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The Lomonosov Crater Impact Event: A Possible Mega-Tsunami Source on Mars
Bouley, S.; Séjourné, A.; Lagain, A. +6 more
Recent research suggests that major meteorite impact events into a Late Hesperian/Early Amazonian ocean likely produced a mega-tsunami that would have resurfaced coastal areas in northwestern Arabia Terra. The orientations of the associated lobate deposits, a conspicuous type of landforms called Thumbprint Terrain, suggests that if an impact event…
Characterizing Average Electron Densities in the Martian Dayside Upper Ionosphere
Gurnett, D. A.; Němec, F.; Morgan, D. D. +5 more
We use more than 10 years of the Martian topside ionospheric data measured by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding radar sounder on board the Mars Express spacecraft to derive an empirical model of electron densities from the peak altitude up to 325 km. Altogether, 16,044 electron density profiles obtained at spacecraft a…
A Thermal Inertia Map of Titan
MacKenzie, Shannon M.; Lorenz, Ralph D.; Lora, Juan M.
Like Earth, the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is affected by the ability of the surface to store and release heat. Modeling efforts have shown that global temperature distributions and wind profiles differ between simulations describing Titan's surface with a uniform thermal inertia. Cassini-Huygens demonstrated, however, that a vari…
Formation of the Y Feature at the Venusian Cloud Top by Planetary-Scale Waves and the Mean Circulation: Analysis of Venus Express VMC Images
Kouyama, T.; Yamada, M.; Nara, Y. +6 more
The relationship between the planetary-scale ultraviolet contrast known as the Y feature and the wind field at the Venusian cloud top was investigated by using images obtained by Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) on ESA's Venus Express. Spectral analyses of the ultraviolet reflectivity and the wind field revealed common periodicities of 4-5 Earth days…
The Deposition and Alteration History of the Northeast Syrtis Major Layered Sulfates
Ehlmann, B. L.; Quinn, D. P.
Ancient stratigraphy on Isidis Basin's western margin records the history of water on early Mars. Noachian units are overlain by layered, basaltic composition sedimentary rocks that are enriched in polyhydrated sulfates and capped by more resistant units. The layered sulfates—uniquely exposed at northeast Syrtis Major—comprise a sedimentary sequen…
Global Spectral Properties and Lithology of Mercury: The Example of the Shakespeare (H-03) Quadrangle
Capaccioni, F.; Doressoundiram, A.; Perna, D. +4 more
The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging mission showed the surface of Mercury with an accuracy never reached before. The morphological and spectral analyses performed thanks to the data collected between 2008 and 2015 revealed that the Mercurian surface differs from the surface of the Moon, although they look visually very…
Surface Temperatures and Water Ice Sublimation Rate of Oxo Crater: A Comparison With Juling Crater
Raponi, A.; De Sanctis, M. C.; Formisano, M. +3 more
Dwarf planet Ceres is characterized by several sites hosting (or have hosted) ice-rich patches as revealed by the Dawn's Visible and InfraRed spectrometer. The study of the illumination conditions including the effects of the local topography become critical in the estimation of the ice lifetime as well as the water vapor production rate. In this …
Solar-Related Variations of the Cloud Top Circulation Above Aphrodite Terra From VMC/Venus Express Wind Fields
Bertaux, J. -L.; Zasova, L. V.; Titov, D. V. +3 more
Winds derived by a digital tracking technique from ultraviolet (365 nm) images captured by the Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) onboard the Venus Express spacecraft from 2006 to 2013 were used to study the atmospheric circulation at cloud top level (70 ± 2 km). This data set allows variations of the wind speed with both latitude and longitude to be s…
Islands of ice on Mars and Pluto
Bapst, Jonathan; Byrne, Shane; Becerra, Patricio +1 more
Ice sheets, such as the polar layered deposits (PLDs) of Mars, are of great interest as records of past climate. Smaller outlier ice deposits near the north and south PLDs are likely more sensitive to climate changes and thus may hold information about more recent climate history. However, the southern outlier deposits have largely remained unmapp…
Degradation of Endeavour Crater Based on Orbital and Rover-Based Observations in Combination With Landscape Evolution Modeling
Arvidson, R. E.; Grant, J. A.; Wilson, S. A. +3 more
Exploration of Endeavour crater's Shoemaker formation rim rocks by the Opportunity rover, combined with extensive observations from the Mars Express and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiters, provides unique and quantitative insights into the processes that have degraded this 22-km diameter Noachian age impact crater. These insights are informed by compari…