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Winds measured by the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) during the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover's Bagnold Dunes Campaign and comparison with numerical modeling using MarsWRF
Bridges, Nathan T.; Sullivan, Robert; Newman, Claire E. +9 more
A high density of REMS wind measurements were collected in three science investigations during MSL's Bagnold Dunes Campaign, which took place over ∼80 sols around southern winter solstice (Ls∼90°) and constituted the first in situ analysis of the environmental conditions, morphology, structure, and composition of an active dune field on Mars. The …
SPICAM on Mars Express: A 10 year in-depth survey of the Martian atmosphere
Gondet, B.; Vandaele, A. C.; Reberac, A. +24 more
The SPICAM experiment onboard Mars Express has accumulated during the last decade a wealth of observations that has permitted a detailed characterization of the atmospheric composition and activity from the near-surface up to above the exosphere. The SPICAM climatology is one of the longest assembled to date by an instrument in orbit around Mars, …
The geological history of Northeast Syrtis Major, Mars
Mustard, John F.; Bramble, Michael S.; Salvatore, Mark R.
As inferred from orbital spectroscopic data, Northeast Syrtis Major bears considerable mineral diversity that spans the Noachian-Hesperian boundary despite its small geographic area. In this study we use observations from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, supplemented with Context Camera imagery, to characterize and map the lateral e…
Compositional and structural constraints on the geologic history of eastern Tharsis Rise, Mars
Murchie, S. L.; Viviano-Beck, C. E.; Beck, A. W. +1 more
Identification and mapping of distinct compositional units using high-resolution orbital imagery of the walls of Valles Marineris, Mars, provide key structural and environmental constraints on the geologic history of the eastern Tharsis Rise. Our results corroborate an overall vertical structure of the upper crust consistent with that inferred fro…
Mars sedimentary rock erosion rates constrained using crater counts, with applications to organic-matter preservation and to the global dust cycle
Kite, Edwin S.; Mayer, David P.
Small-crater counts on Mars light-toned sedimentary rock are often inconsistent with any isochron; these data are usually plotted then ignored. We show (using an 18-HiRISE-image, > 104-crater dataset) that these non-isochron crater counts are often well-fit by a model where crater production is balanced by crater obliteration via ste…
Boulder abundances and size-frequency distributions on Oxia Planum-Mars: Scientific implications for the 2020 ESA ExoMars rover
Quantin, Cathy; Pajola, Maurizio; Carter, John +4 more
This paper presents the abundances and the size-frequency distributions (SFD) of boulders identified on a sector of the prime landing site for the ExoMars 2020 rover, in Oxia Planum region. By means of a HiRISE image, boulders ≥ 1.75 m across have been identified and subdivided according to the two main Oxia Planum geological units: the Noachian c…
Interannual and seasonal changes in the south seasonal polar cap of Mars: Observations from MY 28-31 using MARCI
James, P. B.; Cantor, B. A.; Calvin, W. M.
The Mars Color Imager (MARCI) camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provides daily synoptic coverage that allows monitoring of seasonal cap retreat and interannual changes that occur between Mars Years (MY) and over the southern summer. We present the first analysis of this data for the southern seasonal cap evolution observed in MY 28, 29, 30…
Polygonal ridge networks on Mars: Diversity of morphologies and the special case of the Eastern Medusae Fossae Formation
Head, James W.; Kerber, Laura; Dickson, James L. +1 more
Polygonal ridge networks, also known as boxwork or reticulate ridges, are found in numerous locations and geological contexts across Mars. Distinguishing the morphologies and geological context of the ridge networks sheds light on their potential as astrobiological and mineral resource sites of interest. The most widespread type of ridge morpholog…
Coogoon Valles, western Arabia Terra: Hydrological evolution of a complex Martian channel system
de Pablo, Miguel Ángel; Molina, Antonio; López, Iván +3 more
Coogoon Valles is an intricate fluvial system, and its main channel was formed during the Noachian period through the erosion of the clay-bearing basement of the Western Arabia Terra. This region is characterized by a thinner crust compared to the rest of the highlands and by the occurrence of massive phyllosilicate-bearing materials. The origin o…
The Mars diffuse aurora: A model of ultraviolet and visible emissions
Gérard, J. -C.; Soret, L.; Shematovich, V. I. +2 more
A new type of Martian aurora, characterized by an extended spatial distribution, an altitude lower than the discrete aurora and electron precipitation up to 200 keV has been observed following solar activity on several occasions from the MAVEN spacecraft. We describe the results of Monte Carlo simulations of the production of several ultraviolet a…