Amazonian-aged fluvial system and associated ice-related features in Terra Cimmeria, Mars

The Martian climate throughout the Amazonian is widely believed to have been cold and hyper-arid, very similar to the current conditions. However, ubiquitous evidence of aqueous and glacial activity has been recently reported, including channels that can be tens to hundreds of kilometres long, alluvial and fluvial deposits, ice-rich mantles, and glacial and periglacial landforms. Here we study a ∼340 km-long fluvial system located in the Terra Cimmeria region, in the southern mid-latitudes of Mars. The fluvial system is composed of an upstream catchment system with narrow glaciofluvial valleys and remnants of ice-rich deposits. We observe depositional features including fan-shaped deposits, and erosional features such as scour marks and streamlined islands. At the downstream section of this fluvial system is an outflow channel named Kārūn Valles, which displays a unique braided alluvial fan and terminates on the floor of the Ariadnes Colles basin. Our observations point to surface runoff of ice/snow melt as the water source for this fluvial activity. According to our crater size–frequency distribution analysis the entire fluvial system formed during early to middle Amazonian, between ∼1.8+0.2 −0.2 Ga to 510+40 −40 Ma. Hydraulic modelling indicates that the Kārūn Valles and consequently the alluvial fan formation took place in geologically short-term event(s). We conclude that liquid water was present in Terra Cimmeria during the early to middle Amazonian, and that Mars during that time may have undergone several episodic glacial-related events

Asynchronous formation of Hesperian and Amazonian-aged deltas on Mars and implications for climate

Most fluvial and lacustrine landforms on Mars are thought to be old and have formed more than ~3.8 Gyr ago, in the Noachian period. After a major climatic transition, surface liquid water became less abundant and finally disappeared almost completely. Recent work has shown that observational evidence for Hesperian and Amazonian aqueous processes is more common than previously recognized, but their nature is poorly understood. Moreover, it is not clear how the paleoclimate of Mars can be constrained by this activity. Here we report our investigation of a population of deltas around the ancient impact basin Chryse Planitia. To test whether the results are globally applicable, we also studied selected deltas with similar morphologies in the eastern hemisphere and found that the results are consistent. We compared the morphology of deltas, feeder channels, and receiving lakes, dated deltas by crater counting and searched for alteration minerals in hyperspectral images. The valleys and associated late-stage deltas were formed by short-lived aqueous processes, as suggested by their morphology and the general lack of associated aqueous alteration minerals. The likely source of water was neither widespread precipitation nor a regionally connected groundwater aquifer, but water mobilized locally from the cryosphere. Delta formation in our study areas occurred from the Early Hesperian to the Late Amazonian and did not require sustained periods of global climatic conditions favoring widespread precipitation. Liquid surface water has been locally present on Mars even after the Noachian, although only episodically, for transient intervals, and widely separated in space

USING VIRTUAL REALITY TOOLS TO CHARACTERIZE AND MEASURE SEDIMENTARY SERIES IN GALE CRATER: A CASE STUDY

International audienceThe application of Virtual Reality (VR) to research ends is a recent but growing practice among the community. This technique unlocks previously underrated possibilities to study hardly accessible areas, which is particularly suited for planetary bodies [e.g. 1, 2]. Indeed, a wealth of data (imagery, elevations, mineralogy, etc.) gathered by orbital and ground-based robotic probes can be used to compute 3D models that are readily usable to generate virtual environments, that will in turn be used to address geologic questions. Several solutions to visualize and study such 3D data are currently in development like Pro3D [3] or Cos-moScoutVR [4]. Here we have set up an integrated set of measurement tools, specifically designed to replicate a "fieldwork experience" in VR. In this case study, we present such innovative and fully-integrated VR tools. They allow the user to fully take advantage of an immersive virtual environment accurately recreating an area centered around the Kimberley outcrop (Gale crater, Mars), explored by the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity in 2014. These tools allows users to perform geological characterization, measurements and observations as if they were physically there

"In situ" characterization of the sedimentary record and structures using Virtual Reality: new insights from the Kimberley outcrop (Gale Crater, Mars)

International audienceSince 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover has studied the sedimentary deposits within the Gale Crater, leading to the description of varying lacustrine to fluviatile and fluvio-deltaic environments. Here, we focus on the sedimentary record of the Kimberley outcrop traversed by Curiosity between sols 603 and 630. This section presents siliciclastic rocks with an unusually high potassic content (Le Deit et al., 2016, JGR-Planets). However, poorly constrained architecture and stratigraphic relations between the series of the Kimberley Formation and their local to regional surroundings still prevent further understanding of the exact extent of these accumulations and their significance within the broader Gale Crater paleoenvironmental scheme. Such questions highlight the need for a new finer mapping of the area to characterize the contacts observed on the outcrop itself and in its immediate vicinity, but also for a new assessment of the precise nature and morphology of the sedimentary structures and their spatio-temporal distribution throughout the outcrop and beyond. We therefore propose to use a true color highly resolved Digital Outcrop Model (DOM) of the Kimberley outcrop, obtained using Mars Science Laboratory imagery, integrated into a Virtual Reality (VR) environment (Caravaca et al., in press, PSS). Taking advantage of this "in situ" geological analysis of the DOM, we were able to observe and characterize such sedimentary structures and contacts, as well as their spatial extension throughout the reconstructed area of Kimberley with an unprecedented precision. We notably observe and describe both conformable and unconformable contacts over the entire outcrop, but also several sets of varying scale cross-stratifications (from cm-to pluri-meter scale). These results are in accordance with a fluviatile hydrodynamically active system. They tend to corroborate the idea of a complex yet diachroneous evolution of the area, with the possibility of laterally evolving depositional settings, spanning a significant amount of time. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org

Geologic evolution of the eastern Eridania basin: Implications for aqueous processes in the southern highlands of Mars

The Terra Sirenum region of Mars is thought to have hosted the Eridania paleolake during the Late Noachian/Early Hesperian, and it offers an insight into the regional aqueous history of Mars. We focus on four basins, including Atlantis, Simois, Caralis, and an unnamed basin. They are hypothesized to have hosted isolated lakes after the drainage of the Eridania Lake. We produced a geologic map and derived model absolute ages of our main mapped units. The map and model ages enable us to interpret the geologic history of the region. The basin floors are covered by light-toned materials containing Fe/Mg-phyllosilicates. Across most of the region, the Electris unit covers the highlands and is eroded into mesas. The deposition of this unit corresponds to air fall and/or fluvial mechanisms that transported the material into the basins and accumulated it on the plateaus and basin floors and rims. The deposits on the basin floors were later degraded into light-toned knobs that are rich in Fe/Mg-phyllosilicates. On the rim of the Simois and the unnamed basins, a sequence of Al-phyllosilicates on top of Fe/Mg-phyllosilicates has been observed. These Al-phyllosilicate-rich materials may have been formed by pedogenic leaching. The presence of chloride in the area suggests that a playa environment prevailed during the last stage of water presence or after desiccation of the lakes. In the Early Amazonian, the last aqueous activity cemented the postlacustrine air fall deposits in the basins and shows that liquid water was present in Terra Sirenum long after the Noachian

Sedimentology of Kimberley outcrop (Gale Crater, Mars), using "in situ" simulated field work in Virtual Reality

International audienceThe Kimberley outcrop, traversed by Curiosity in 2014, shows a siliciclastic depositional record with an unexpectedly high potassic content. However, its intra-and inter-formational relations are still poorly constrained yet critical to understand the paleoenvironmental implication of this geochemical anomaly. To answer these questions, we use a high-resolution Digital Outcrop Model integrated into a Virtual Reality environment. We therefore characterize multi-scale sedimentary features, highlighting laterally evolving depositional conditions