Determining The Provenance Of Sedimentary Materials On Mars Through Analog Studies
Abstract
The amount and types of sedimentary material available for transport can control the types of features that result from aeolian or fluvial processes. For example, if sediment availability increases dune forms transition from barchans to linear dunes. The availability of sediment and the erodibilty of the landscape can influence drainage divides, catchment areas, and stream type. There is abundant evidence of both aeolian and fluvial sediments on Mars with grain sizes ranging from silt/clay to pebbles and cobbles. However, what is unique about Mars is that the dominant rock type on the surface is basalt, and basalt does not typically weather into coarser particles sizes larger than silt/clay. So where does all the sand come from on Mars? Chemical weathering would produce clays. While mechanical weathering is possible, there are really only two end member processes: impact cratering and physical abrasion. Impact cratering can produce a wide range of particle sizes from house sized boulders to fine dust, but how much sand can be expected to be produced from impact craters? Physical abrasion is likely to be inefficient on Mars, resulting in the fast breakdown of sand-sized particles while producing more silt/clay sized particles. Other processes for generating sand on Mars include hyaloclastic, phreatomagmatic, and pyroclastic. These processes typically require the presence of water. This presentation will explore the possible diagnostic characteristics of sediments generated from these different processes. It will also show how basaltic sediments change as they are transported by water, wind, and ice. The image shows the physical characteristics of basaltic sediment transported by different geologic processes.<img src="/data/abstract/agu/fm17/7/8/Paper_246987_abstract_288949_0.jpg" class="documentimage" >
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AGUFMEP41B1836C
- Keywords:
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- 1824 Geomorphology: general;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1862 Sediment transport;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 5415 Erosion and weathering;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS;
- 5419 Hydrology and fluvial processes;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS