Four decades of understanding Martian geomorphology: Revisiting Baker’s ‘The geomorphology of Mars’

Bhardwaj, Anshuman; Sam, Lydia; Gharehchahi, Saeideh

doi:10.1177/03091333211026215

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Using the data from the recent global geological mapping of Mars (Tanaka et al, 2014), we have presented the global distribution of major Martian outflow channels in Figure 2. Interested readers can find further contextual geomorphic information in the geomorphologic map provided by Bhardwaj et al (2021), modified from the geological map by Tanaka et al (2014). Owing to their several characteristics typical of large terrestrial floods, the widely accepted hypothesis is that large ancient floods carved the outflow channels (e.g.…”

Section: Martian Outflow Channelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A discussion on the plausible role of ice streams in carving Martian outflow channels: Revisiting the earliest hypothesis by Lucchitta et al. (1981)

Sam

Bhardwaj

Gharehchahi

2022

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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Linear, incised and usually an order of magnitude wider than the Martian valleys, the Martian outflow channels are scoured ground commonly displaying streamlined remnants of the pre-existing terrain. A recent study used an unprecedented dataset of the Martian valley networks to propose that most of the valley networks are a result of combined surface and subglacial runoff. This also prompts to revisit One of the earliest hypotheses that the ancient ice streams might have carved the Martian outflow channels. With an exceptional focus on Mars exploration planned during the next decades, it is important to assess the regional-scale geomorphic processes to better target the future landing and sample return missions.

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Section: Martian Outflow Channelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A discussion on the plausible role of ice streams in carving Martian outflow channels: Revisiting the earliest hypothesis by Lucchitta et al. (1981)

Sam

Bhardwaj

Gharehchahi

2022

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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“…In fact, mass movements are one of the most significant geomorphological processes molding the surface of our planet [10][11][12][13]. Interestingly, widely varying mass wasting features have also been identified on other planetary bodies such as the Moon (e.g., [14]), Mercury (e.g., [15]), Venus (e.g., [16]), Mars (e.g., [17][18][19][20][21]), and some outer Solar System satellites (e.g., [22]). Planned instruments to fly to Venus such as the Venus Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (VISAR) onboard VERITAS and the high-resolution imaging capabilities of EnVision are particularly aimed at studying topography and mass movements on Venus [23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Multiresolution and multisensory remote sensing datasets for planetary bodies are constantly improving our understanding of the Solar System [20]. While terrestrial planets, i.e., Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, have considerable gravity (i.e., ~3.7 m/s 2 ) to support widespread mass wasting, over the past decade mass wasting features have been observed even in remote sensing images of smaller planetary bodies such as the Moon and Ceres, with considerably lower gravity (i.e., 1.62 m/s 2 for the Moon and 0.27 m/s 2 for Ceres).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Remote Sensing Perspective on Mass Wasting in Contrasting Planetary Environments: Cases of the Moon and Ceres

Sam

Bhardwaj

2022

Remote Sensing

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Mass wasting, as one of the most significant geomorphological processes, contributes immensely to planetary landscape evolution. The frequency and diversity of mass wasting features on any planetary body also put engineering constraints on its robotic exploration. Mass wasting on other Solar System bodies shares similar, although not identical, morphological characteristics with its terrestrial counterpart, indicating a possible common nature for their formation. Thus, planetary bodies with contrasting environmental conditions might help reveal the effects of the atmosphere, subsurface fluids, mass accumulation/precipitation, and seismicity on mass wasting, and vice versa. Their relative positions within our Solar System and the environmental and geophysical conditions on the Moon and the dwarf planet Ceres are not only extremely different from Earth’s but from each other too. Their smaller sizes coupled with the availability of global-scale remote sensing datasets make them ideal candidates to understand mass wasting processes in widely contrasting planetary environments. Through this concept article, we highlight several recent advances in and prospects of using remote sensing datasets to reveal unprecedented details on lunar and Cerean mass wasting processes. We start with briefly discussing several recent studies on mass wasting using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) data for the Moon and Dawn spacecraft data for Ceres. We further identify the prospects of available remote sensing data in advancing our understanding of mass wasting processes under reduced gravity and in a scant (or absent) atmosphere, and we conclude the article by suggesting future research directions.

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“…Whether life can survive in these environments, and whether the biosignatures it leaves behind can be preserved and detected is of great interest to those searching for signs of life in the Martian geological record. Analog sites can also include specific features of interest such as meteor craters and volcanic, aeolian, fluvial, and lacustrine landforms, all features known to be present on Mars (Baker, 1981;Bhardwaj et al, 2021). Long studied by Earth scientists, these venues are increasingly frequented by planetary scientists looking for clues to their limited datasets of objects far away.…”

Section: Martian Analog Environments In the Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laboratory and field analogs of the Martian (sub)surface

Poplawska-Kopacz¹

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Mars missions and Martian analog systems inform each other in an iterative fashion: the insights gleaned from laboratory and field analogs guides mission concepts while the data acquired by missions improves analog designs. As space missions only grant us a small subset of everything we desire to study on Mars, support from simulations in the laboratory and field expeditions to analog environments is a natural follow-up. In this way we can expand our limited data sets, better interpret the results, and plan the next mission in a more informed manner. Laboratory and field analogs have aided us in our investigations of the mineralogy of Mars, and the search for water, organic molecules, and life that have been some of the primary objectives of Mars missions in the last decades, and questions relevant to fundamental science. In a time of scientific exploration when the frontier is frequented by only a few, our efforts in space exploration are largely accomplished on Earth with relatively low-cost, targeted techniques. This thesis is a collection of four distinct laboratory and field analog studies. It describes several experimental designs used to study the stability of organic molecules in various surface environments on Mars and the significance of those environments to Martian prebiotic chemistry, and includes a field campaign to a Martian analog environment (Icelandic lava tubes) undertaken to gain insight into potential geochemical signatures of life in the subsurface of Mars. The works are presented in the larger context of analogs in planetary research and astrobiology.

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Four decades of understanding Martian geomorphology: Revisiting Baker’s ‘The geomorphology of Mars’

Cited by 5 publications

References 70 publications

A discussion on the plausible role of ice streams in carving Martian outflow channels: Revisiting the earliest hypothesis by Lucchitta et al. (1981)

A discussion on the plausible role of ice streams in carving Martian outflow channels: Revisiting the earliest hypothesis by Lucchitta et al. (1981)

A Remote Sensing Perspective on Mass Wasting in Contrasting Planetary Environments: Cases of the Moon and Ceres

Laboratory and field analogs of the Martian (sub)surface

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