Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter observations of light-toned layered deposits and associated fluvial landforms on the plateaus adjacent to Valles Marineris

Gypsum, opal, and fluvial channels within a trough of Noctis Labyrinthus, Mars: Implications for aqueous activity during the Late Hesperian to Amazonian

“…Two nearby troughs of Noctis contain diverse mineral suites, including mixtures of sulfates, clays, and hydrated silica Thollot et al, 2012), and several other troughs have opal and jarosite (Weitz et al, 2010). Thollot et al (2012) proposed that basaltic bedrock and volcanic ash deposited within one Noctis Labyrinthus trough were altered by warm acidic groundwater to produce a progression of mineral phases.…”

“…The larger interior layered deposits (ILDs) in the Valles Marineris chasmata typically consist of mixtures of polyhydrated and monohydrated sulfates (e.g., Murchie et al, 2009a, Bishop et al, 2009Weitz et al, 2012). In contrast, regions along the plateau of Valles Marineris and in smaller depressions like those at Noctis Labyrinthus contain fewer sulfates and more hydrated silica and Fe/Mg-smectites (e.g., Milliken et al, 2008;Weitz et al, 2010Le Deit et al, 2009, 2012. This paper focuses on the spectral and stratigraphic analysis of aqueous minerals in a trough of Noctis that contains a diversity of minerals and sedimentary rocks.…”

Variability in martian sinuous ridge form: Case study of Aeolis Serpens in the Aeolis Dorsa, Mars, and insight from the Mirackina paleoriver, South Australia

“…Sinuous ridges have been identified at a number of sites on Mars (e.g., Williams, 2007), including on large-scale alluvial fans (Moore and Howard, 2005), on several plateaus surrounding the Valles Marineris canyon system (LeDeit et al, 2010;Weitz et al, 2010), in Sinus Meridiani and Arabia Terra (e.g., Edgett, 2005;Williams and Chuang, 2012), in the Argyre basin, (Kargel and Strom, 1992), near the south pole (e.g., Kargel, 1993;Head, 2000aHead, , 2000bHead and Pratt, 2001;Ghatan and Head, 2004), as part of a fan-shaped complex within Eberswalde crater (Malin and Edgett, 2003;Moore et al, 2003), on an alluvial fan near the Mars Science Laboratory landing site in Gale crater (Anderson and Bell, 2010), and in Aeolis Dorsa (Burr et al, 2009).…”

Plateaus and sinuous ridges as the fingerprints of lava flow inflation in the Eastern Tharsis Plains of Mars

“…Sinuous ridges found elsewhere across the surface of Mars are interpreted as inverted fluvial channels (Malin and Edgett, 2003;Mangold et al, 2004;Moore and Howard, 2005;Pain et al, 2007;Burr et al, 2009Burr et al, , 2010Williams et al, 2009;Anderson and Bell, 2010;Zimbelman and Griffin, 2010;Le Deit et al, 2010;Weitz et al, 2010;Newsom et al, 2010;Thomson et al, 2011;Ansan et al, 2011;Lefort et al, 2012), eskers (Baker, 2001;Head and Pratt, 2001;Bleacher et al, 2003;Ghatan and Head, 2004;Banks et al, 2009;Williams et al, 2013), or eroded remnants of subsurface dikes (Head et al, 2006). The development of inverted fluvial channels and eskers involves flowing water, and all three of these proposed processes require significant erosion and regional deflation.…”