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Assessing the role of clay and salts on the origin of MARSIS basal bright reflections

Orosei, Roberto; Caprarelli, Graziella; Pettinelli, Elena +7 more

Anomalously bright basal reflections detected by MARSIS at Ultimi Scopuli have been interpreted to indicate the presence of water-saturated materials or ponded liquid water at the base of the South Polar Layered Deposits (SPLD). Because conventional models assume basal temperatures (≤200 K) much lower than the melting point of water, this interpre…

Aeolian disruption and reworking of TARs at the Zhurong rover field site, southern Utopia Planitia, Mars

Lu, Yu; Wu, Bo; Edgett, Kenneth S. +6 more

China's Zhurong rover explored four crescent-shaped TARs during the first 107 sols. The crust formed by accumulation and induration of aeolian dust makes TARs light-toned in orbiter images. Two TARs degraded into smaller megaripples due to a change of wind regime. TARs might share similar formation and evolution mechanisms with megaripples.

Has the impact flux of small and large asteroids varied through time on Mars, the Earth and the Moon?

Benedix, Gretchen K.; Lagain, Anthony; Kreslavsky, Mikhail +6 more

The impact flux over the last 3 Ga in the inner Solar System is commonly assumed to be constant through time due to insufficient data to warrant a different choice for this range of time. However, asteroid break-up events in the main belt may have been responsible for cratering spikes over the last ∼2 Ga on the Earth-Moon system. Due to its proxim…

Insights into the subsurface structure of wrinkle ridges on Mars

Karagoz, Oguzcan; Kenkmann, Thomas; Wulf, Gerwin

Wrinkle ridges are important landforms on Mars and other planetary bodies and result from horizontal tectonic shortening. This study provides insights into the subsurface of selected wrinkle ridge sites, based on exposures provided by steep escarpments and crater slopes that crosscut wrinkle ridges. We mapped the complex fold and fault patterns an…