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Prolonged Fluvial Activity Revealed by Mapping and Analyses of Valley Networks in the Northwestern Hellas Region, Mars
Xiao, Long; Zhao, Jiannan; Shi, Yutong +4 more
Valley networks (VNs) on Mars are crucial for understanding the Martian hydrologic and climatic history. However, the limited resolution of remote sensing data hindered the complete identification of Martian VNs, affecting our understanding of the formation and duration of VNs as well as their climatic significance. In this study, we utilized high…
Megaflood Erosion on Mars—How Lava-Filled Craters Became Mesas (With Insights From Lava Physics, Stream Power, and Rock Mechanics)
Coleman, Neil M.
Round mesas up to 500 m high occur in Martian outflow channels. Mesas in Ravi and Elaver Valles occur in deepest parts of the channels where the most intense megaflood erosion occurred. I theorize that Noachian basalts poured into craters which acted as lava traps, similar to Kilauean lava lakes. Subsequent flood basalts buried the infilled crater…
The Thermal Structure and Composition of Jupiter's Great Red Spot From JWST/MIRI
de Pater, Imke; Wong, Michael H.; Fletcher, Leigh N. +15 more
Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) was mapped by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)/Mid-Infrared Instrument (4.9-27.9 µm) in July and August 2022. These observations took place alongside a suite of visual and infrared observations from; Hubble, JWST/NIRCam, Very Large Telescope/VISIR and amateur observers which provided both spatial and tempo…
The Role of Ice and Latitude-Dependent Mantling on Boulder Distributions Across the Martian Northern Lowlands
Ewing, R. C.; Karunatillake, S.; Cohen-Zada, A. L. +1 more
Boulders are ubiquitous on rocky planets and provide valuable information about planetary processes. The abundance, size, and distribution of boulders offer insights into the primary processes that form them and the secondary processes that modify their position and size. However, the roles of varying environmental processes, including cryospheric…
The Role and Lifetime of Dissociative Heterogeneous Processes in Improving Simulated Ozone on Mars
Patel, M. R.; Mason, J. P.; Lefèvre, F. +4 more
Ozone simulated in Mars Global Climate Models (MGCMs) is used to assess the underlying chemistry occurring in the atmosphere. Currently, ozone total column abundance (TCA) is under-predicted in MGCMs by up to 120%, implying missing or inaccurate chemistry in models. Heterogeneous reactions of hydroxyl radicals (HOX) have been offered as…
Ultraviolet NO and Visible O2 Nightglow in the Mars Southern Winter Polar Region: Statistical Study and Model Comparison
Vandaele, A. C.; Daerden, F.; Thomas, I. R. +8 more
The Mars NO and the O2 nightglow are produced by the recombination of atoms produced on the dayside by photodissociation and transported to the nightside. These emissions are tracers of the summer to winter pole dynamics in the upper Mars atmosphere. The UV-visible (UVIS) channel of the Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery (NOMAD) s…
A Low Albedo, Thin, Resistant Unit in Oxia Planum, Mars: Evidence for an Airfall Deposit and Late-Stage Groundwater Activity at the ExoMars Rover Landing Site
Fawdon, P.; Grindrod, P. M.; Davis, J. M. +2 more
Oxia Planum, Mars, is the future landing site of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission, which will search for preserved biosignatures in a phyllosilicate-bearing unit. Overlying the mission-important phyllosilicate-bearing rocks is a dark, capping unit—known here as the Low albedo, Thin, Resistant (LTR) unit—which may have protected the phyl…
Geostratigraphic Mapping of the Intrusive Valentine Domes on the Moon
Rossi, Angelo Pio; Suárez-Valencia, Javier Eduardo
Lunar intrusive igneous domes have not been the center of much research in the past due to their rare occurrence on the lunar surface, and the difficulty in locating them. Most of the known structures were discovered using images with low illumination angles, including data from the Lunar Orbiter, telescopic images, and photos taken during the Apo…
Comprehensive Analysis of a Chloride-Rich Topographic Depression in Terra Sirenum, Mars: A Possible Lost Basin With Astrobiological Significance
Singh, Deepali; Sinha, Rishitosh K.; Acharyya, Kinsuk
The hygroscopic nature of chlorides gives them the potential to provide a harbor for microbes to adapt and survive in extreme conditions, which is pertinent to Mars, given its evolution of climatic conditions. Moreover, observations of secondary hydrous minerals in chloride-rich regions have opened the case for a diverse geological environment on …
Observations of Water Frost on Mars With THEMIS: Application to the Presence of Brines and the Stability of (Sub)Surface Water Ice
Forget, F.; Piqueux, S.; Szantai, A. +4 more
Characterizing the exchange of water between the Martian atmosphere and the (sub)surface is a major challenge for understanding the mechanisms that regulate the water cycle. Here we present a new data set of water ice detected on the Martian surface with the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS). The detection is based on the correlation betwee…