Kadish, Seth J. and Head, James W. and Barlow, Nadine G. and Marchant, David R. (2008) Martian pedestal craters: Marginal sublimation pits implicate a climate-related formation mechanism. Geophysical Research Letters, 35 (16). L16104. ISSN 1944-8007
|
Text
Kadish_SJ_etal_2008_Martian_pedestal_craters_marginal_sublimatin_pits_implicate.pdf Download (422kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Pedestal craters on Mars are defined by an outward-facing scarp forming a plateau perched tens of meters above the surrounding terrain. Their origin has been attributed to impact armoring of the surface and subsequent removal of inter-crater terrain by either eolian deflation or sublimation of an ice-rich substrate. We identified 2696 pedestal craters between 60N and 60S latitude; 98% are poleward of 33N and 40S. The majority of pedestal crater margins are smoothly sloped, but 3%, concentrated in Utopia Planitia and Malea Planurn, display distinctive marginal pits. These pedestal crater scarps are anomalously tall (usually >80-100 m) and the pits resemble sublimation depressions seen on Earth and elsewhere on Mars, providing evidence for sublimation of volatiles in the scarp, where the armored surface has tapered. The pitted scarps provide insight into the origin of the general pedestal crater population, favoring formation via deposition of a volatile-rich substrate, impact armoring, and sublimation of intervening volatiles. Crater densities and overlapping pedestal craters suggest multiple periods of emplacement and loss of these climate-related, latitude-dependent deposits throughout the Amazonian.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Publisher’s Statement: | ©2008. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. |
| ID number or DOI: | 10.1029/2008GL034990 |
| Keywords: | Forming; ice; Mars; near-surface; rich deposits; sublimation |
| Subjects: | Q Science > QB Astronomy |
| NAU Depositing Author Academic Status: | Faculty/Staff |
| Department/Unit: | College of Engineering, Forestry, and Natural Science > Physics and Astronomy |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Oct 2015 15:35 |
| URI: | http://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/727 |
Actions (login required)
 |
IR Staff Record View |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year