Grid Mapping the Northern Plains of Mars: Geomorphological, Radar, and Water‐Equivalent Hydrogen Results From Arcadia Plantia

Ramsdale, Jason D.; Balme, Matthew R.; Gallagher, Colman; Conway, Susan J.; Smith, Isaac B.; Hauber, Ernst; Orgel, Csilla; Séjourné, Antoine; Costard, Francois; Eke, Vince R.; Gasselt, Stephan A.; Johnsson, Andreas; Kereszturi, Akos; Losiak, Anna; Massey, Richard J.; Platz, Thomas; Reiss, Dennis; Skinner, James A.; Swirad, Zuzanna M.; Teodoro, Luis F.A.; Wilson, Jack T.

doi:10.1029/2018je005663

Grid Mapping the Northern Plains of Mars: Geomorphological, Radar, and Water‐Equivalent Hydrogen Results From Arcadia Plantia

Ramsdale, Jason D.; Balme, Matthew R.; Gallagher, Colman; Conway, Susan J.; Smith, Isaac B.; Hauber, Ernst; Orgel, Csilla; Séjourné, Antoine; Costard, Francois; Eke, Vince R.; Gasselt, Stephan A.; Johnsson, Andreas; Kereszturi, Akos; Losiak, Anna; Massey, Richard J.; Platz, Thomas; Reiss, Dennis; Skinner, James A.; Swirad, Zuzanna M.; Teodoro, Luis F.A.; Wilson, Jack T.

Authors

Jason D. Ramsdale

Matthew R. Balme

Colman Gallagher

Susan J. Conway

Isaac B. Smith

Ernst Hauber

Csilla Orgel

Antoine Séjourné

Francois Costard

Dr Vincent Eke v.r.eke@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Stephan A. Gasselt

Andreas Johnsson

Akos Kereszturi

Anna Losiak

Professor Richard Massey r.j.massey@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Thomas Platz

Dennis Reiss

James A. Skinner

Zuzanna M. Swirad

Luis F.A. Teodoro

Jack T. Wilson

Contributors

Zuzanna Swirad zuzanna.m.swirad@durham.ac.uk
Other

Zuzanna Swirad hwdm54@durham.ac.uk
Other

Abstract

A project of mapping ice‐related landforms was undertaken to understand the role of subsurface ice in the northern plains. This work is the first continuous regional mapping from CTX (ConTeXt Camera, 6 m/pixel; Malin et al., 2007) imagery in Arcadia Planitia along a strip 300 km across stretching from 30°N to 80°N centered on the 170°W line of longitude. The distribution and morphotypes of these landforms were used to understand the permafrost cryolithology. The mantled and textured signatures occur almost ubiquitously between 35°N and 78°N and have a positive spatial correlation with inferred ice stability based on thermal modeling, neutron spectroscopy, and radar data. The degradational features into the LDM (latitude‐dependent mantle) include pits, scallops, and 100‐m polygons and provide supporting evidence for subsurface ice and volatile loss between 35 and 70°N in Arcadia with the mantle between 70 and 78°N appearing much more intact. Pitted terrain appears to be much more pervasive in Arcadia than in Acidalia and Utopia suggesting that the Arcadia study area had more widespread near‐surface subsurface ice and thus was more susceptible to pitting or that the ice was less well buried by sediments. Correlations with ice stability models suggest that lack of pits north of 65–70°N could indicate a relatively young age (~1 Ma); however, this could also be explained through regional variations in degradation rates. The deposition of the LDM is consistent with an air fall hypothesis; however, there appears to be substantial evidence for fluvial processes in southern Arcadia with older, underlying processes being equally dominant with the LDM and degradation thereof in shaping the landscape.

Citation

Ramsdale, J. D., Balme, M. R., Gallagher, C., Conway, S. J., Smith, I. B., Hauber, E., …Wilson, J. T. (2019). Grid Mapping the Northern Plains of Mars: Geomorphological, Radar, and Water‐Equivalent Hydrogen Results From Arcadia Plantia. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 124(2), 504-527. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018je005663

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jul 25, 2018
Online Publication Date	Sep 14, 2018
Publication Date	Feb 28, 2019
Deposit Date	Mar 27, 2019
Publicly Available Date	Aug 14, 2019
Journal	Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
Print ISSN	2169-9097
Electronic ISSN	2169-9100
Publisher	American Geophysical Union
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	124
Issue	2
Pages	504-527
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1029/2018je005663

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Copyright Statement
Ramsdale, Jason D., Balme, Matthew R., Gallagher, Colman, Conway, Susan J., Smith, Isaac B., Hauber, Ernst, Orgel, Csilla, Séjourné, Antoine, Costard, Francois, Eke, Vince R., Gasselt, Stephan A., Johnsson, Andreas, Kereszturi, Akos, Losiak, Anna, Massey, Richard J., Platz, Thomas, Reiss, Dennis, Skinner, James A., Swirad, Zuzanna M., Teodoro, Luis F. A. & Wilson, Jack T. (2019). Grid Mapping the Northern Plains of Mars: Geomorphological, Radar, and Water‐Equivalent Hydrogen Results From Arcadia Plantia. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 124(2): 504-527. 10.1029/2018JE005663. To view the published open abstract, go to https://doi.org/ and enter the DOI.