Thermal analysis of fractures at Cerberus Fossae, Mars: Detection of air convection in the porous debris apron

Antoine, Raphaël; Lopez, Téodolina; Baratoux, D.; Rabinowicz, M.; Kurita, Kei

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2010.12.025

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…This hypothesis is consistent with the APC formation mechanism we suggest above and may explain much of APC thermal behaviors if open conduits (for atmospheric transport) exist beneath Arsia Mons' flanks and flow aprons. Support for this hypothesis may exist in a terrestrial example discussed by Antoine et al [] and in a study of air convection in the porous debris filling fractures in Cerberus Fossae [ Antoine et al , ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Atypical pit craters on Mars: New insights from THEMIS, CTX, and HiRISE observations

2015

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More than 100 pit craters in the Tharsis region of Mars exhibit morphologies, diameters, and thermal behaviors that diverge from the much larger bowl-shaped pit craters that occur in most regions across Mars. These Atypical Pit Craters (APCs) generally have sharp and distinct rims, vertical or overhanging walls that extend down to their floors, surface diameters of~50-350 m, and high depth to diameter (d/D) ratios that are usually greater than 0.3 (which is an upper range value for impacts and bowl-shaped pit craters) and can exceed values of 1.8. Observations by the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) show that APC floor temperatures are warmer at night and fluctuate with much lower diurnal amplitudes than nearby surfaces or adjacent bowl-shaped pit craters. Kīlauea volcano, Hawai'i, hosts pit craters that formed through subsurface collapse into active volcanic dikes, resulting in pits that can appear morphologically analogous to either APCs or bowl-shaped pit craters. Partially drained dikes are sometimes exposed within the lower walls and floors of these terrestrial APC analogs and can form extensive cave systems with unique microclimates. Similar caves in Martian pit craters are of great interest for astrobiology. This study uses new observations by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and Context Camera to refine previous work where seven APCs were described from lower resolution THEMIS visible wavelength observations. Here we identify locations of 115 APCs, map their distribution across the Tharsis region, characterize their internal morphologies with high-resolution observations, and discuss possible formation mechanisms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Atypical pit craters on Mars: New insights from THEMIS, CTX, and HiRISE observations

2015

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“…More precisely, Bories and Combarnous [1973], Wood and Hewett [1982], and Caltagirone and Bories [1985] studied the case where the permeability of the porous media is isotropic, while Ormond et al [1995] and Genthon et al [1990] studied the case where the horizontal permeability is much greater than the vertical one. Whereas few authors have suggested the possibility of air convection in permafrost [ Lambiel and Pieracci , 2008] or in snow [ Sturm and Johnson , 1991], air convection in inclined isotropic porous media was numerically explored in Antoine et al [2009, 2011]. In the following subsections, we extend this modeling effort to the anisotropic case.…”

Section: Conditions For Air Convection and Consequences For Surface Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some of the collapsed lava tubes on Arsia Mons' flanks also exhibit a higher temperature at night. In fact, the natural diversity of thermal and optical properties of the Martian surface are generally sufficient to explain nighttime temperature variations up to several tens of K. However, heat advection induced by air flow into a porous media is known to contribute to nighttime surface temperature on Earth [ Antoine et al , 2009] and such a contribution has also been suggested in the case of Mars [ Antoine et al , 2011]. These results lead us to consider the influence of this air circulation on the observed thermal behavior of TDPs and collapsed lava tubes, in the specific geological context of a large shield volcano.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal anomalies on pit craters and sinuous rilles of Arsia Mons: Possible signatures of atmospheric gas circulation in the volcano

et al. 2012

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[1] Seven circular depressions named as pit craters were found in northern flank of Arsia Mons, and we report 76 new ones in the southern flank of the volcano. Their diameters range from 100 m to 1300 m and depths range from 22 to 500 m. THEMIS-IR data reveal that some of these pit craters are 10 K warmer than the surrounding surface during night and are referred as Thermally Distinct Pit (TDP). Nighttime surface temperature variations of 10 K at this scale are common on Mars and may result from a combination of geometrical factors and/or variations of thermophysical properties. However, several observations appear to be difficult to reconcile with this view. We have thus explored the conditions for the occurrence of $40 km long subsurface air flow through the volcano apron and its consequences on surface temperatures. Our numerical simulations assume that cold air penetrates the apron through a slope break. It then flows upslope affecting a thickness of 6 km and finally exits 40 km away through warm pit craters and sinuous rilles. An extremely high horizontal permeability of 10 À4 m 2 and a vertical permeability of 10 À8 m 2 are used considering the anisotropic media resulting from the accumulation of lava flows and ash/scoria deposits. Without unequivocally ruling out a possible contribution of geometrical factors and thermal properties variations, these numerical simulations show that the ascending convective flow provides, at the surface, a heat flow able to sustain an excess temperature of $10 K.

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“…Given that the diameter of Mars (6,790 km) is much smaller than that of the Earth (12,750 km), it has long been considered that Mars is less geologically active than the Earth because the internal heat source for volcanism and associated faulting would have been lost more quickly (see Roberts et al, , for a discussion). However, studies by Antoine et al () suggest that endogenic heat sources might well be present within Mars associated with the Cerberus Fossae fault system. Roberts et al (), using understanding of natural seismometers on Earth, suggested that large‐magnitude marsquakes may have occurred in the recent past along Cerberus Fossae, evidenced by observations close to faults of anomalies in the density of trails left by mobilized boulders and boulder trail widths (Figures and ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Possible Evidence for Variation in Magnitude for Marsquakes From Fallen Boulder Populations, Grjota Valles, Mars

Brown

Roberts

2019

JGR Planets

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Following observations of mobilized boulder trail populations from Cerberus Fossae, Mars, that have been interpreted as possible evidence of large‐magnitude marsquakes rupturing for distances of ~207 km along exposed active faults, additional boulder trail populations were measured along shorter faults within the region of Grjota Valles (50‐ to 150‐km length) to test the hypotheses that (1) these faults are also candidate locations for marsquakes and (2) that marsquake magnitude might be smaller, limited by fault dimensions available for rupture. For a region containing two en echelon graben, boulder trail data define two anomalies with maxima in (a) boulder trails per kilometer and (b) maximum width of boulder trails, one that is ~116 km in length along strike and the other ~70 km in length along strike. Values for the maxima are 45 trails per kilometer and 5‐m mean trail width for the 70‐km‐long anomaly and 115 trails per kilometer with 5.3‐m mean trail width for the 116‐km‐long anomaly, above background values measured elsewhere along these faults of zero trails per kilometer with zero boulder trail widths. If combined with published data from Cerberus Fossae with an ~207‐km‐long anomaly in boulder trails per km (125 trails per kilometer maxima) and maximum mean boulder trail width (8.5‐m maximum trail width), the three data sets suggest correlations between the (a) along‐strike length of boulder trail anomalies, (b) boulder trails per kilometer, and (c) maximum boulder trail width. If interpreted as due to single marsquakes, and if the dimensions of these anomalies are a proxy for rupture length, when combined, one interpretation of this is that boulders have been mobilized by marsquakes and that the marsquake magnitude is proportional to the along‐strike length of the anomalies. In other words, the data suggest that marsquake magnitude, if that is the cause of the anomalies, is limited by fault length as expected for terrestrial seismically active faults. Such findings suggest that the Martian surface may have been shaken, in the very recent past, by large‐magnitude marsquakes. We discuss this in terms of the seismicity of Mars.

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Thermal analysis of fractures at Cerberus Fossae, Mars: Detection of air convection in the porous debris apron

Cited by 10 publications

References 58 publications

Atypical pit craters on Mars: New insights from THEMIS, CTX, and HiRISE observations

Atypical pit craters on Mars: New insights from THEMIS, CTX, and HiRISE observations

Thermal anomalies on pit craters and sinuous rilles of Arsia Mons: Possible signatures of atmospheric gas circulation in the volcano

Possible Evidence for Variation in Magnitude for Marsquakes From Fallen Boulder Populations, Grjota Valles, Mars

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