Evidence for Recent Wet-Based Crater Glaciation in Tempe Terra, Mars.

[Introduction] Mars’ mid-latitudes host abundant putative debris-covered water-ice glaciers (viscous flow features; VFF). Eskers emerging from 110-150 Myr-old VFF in Phlegra Montes and Tempe Terra provide evidence for rare occurences of past, localized basal melting of their parent VFF, despite the cold climates of the late Amazonian (see this conf.). Eskers are sinuous ridges comprising glaciofluvial sediment deposited by meltwater flowing through tunnels within glacial ice. Here, we describe a population of sinuous ridges emerging from VFF in an unnamed ~45 km-diameter crater (38.47 N, 72.43 W) in Tempe Terra, ~600 km from the VFF-linked esker identified by Butcher et al. We consider two working hypotheses for the formation of the sinuous ridges; that they are either (1) eskers formed by melting of the glaciers from which they emerge, or (2) topographically inverted fluvial channels which formed prior to glaciation of the crater. We present observations from preliminary geomorphic mapping of the crater to start to test those hypotheses

Constraints on the Huygens landing site topography from the Surface Science Package Acoustic Properties Instrument

We present analysis of the results from the Huygens acoustic sounder instrument. The sounder sees a relatively smooth terrain, with specular reflectance characteristics

The Penetration of Solar Radiation into Water and Carbon Dioxide Snow, with reference to Mars

The depth to which solar radiation can penetrate through ice is an important factor in understanding surface‐atmosphere interactions for icy planetary surfaces. Mars hosts both water and carbon dioxide ice on the surface and in the subsurface. At high latitudes during autumn and winter carbon dioxide condenses to form the seasonal polar cap. This has been both modelled and observed to, in part, occur as snowfall. As snow accumulates, the thermal properties of the surface are changed, whether the underlying surface was rocky, regolith or a solid ice sheet. This results in a change (usually increase) in albedo, affecting the proportion of the incident solar energy reflected, or transmitted below the surface of the snow layer. The depth to which light can penetrate through this layer is an important parameter in heat transfer models for the Martian surface, and is often quantified using the e‐folding scale. We present the first measurements of the e‐folding scale in pure carbon dioxide snow for the wavelengths 300 nm to 1100 nm alongside new measurements of water snow

Subsurface Volatile Deposition on Mars

We have modelled the transport of heat in the martian regolith, taking into account the change in thermal properties caused by an increase in water ice content. Under these conditions we have found that the addition of water ice allows for increased ice formation at depth, rather than under the assumption that thermal properties are unchanged. This is important because it will affect estimates of global subsurface volatile deposition

Subsurface Volatile Deposition on Mars

We have modelled the transport of heat in the martian regolith, taking into account the change in thermal properties caused by an increase in water ice content. Under these conditions we have found that the addition of water ice allows for increased ice formation at depth, rather than under the assumption that thermal properties are unchanged. This is important because it will affect estimates of global subsurface volatile deposition

MoonLITE – Technological feasibility of the penetrator concept

Introduction: While the surface missions to the Moon of the 1960s and 1970s achieved a great deal, scientifically a great deal was also left unresolved. The recent plethora of lunar missions (flown or proposed) reflects resurgence in interest in the Moon, not only in its own right, but also as a record of the formation of the Earth-Moon System and the interplanetary environment at 1 AU. Results from orbiter missions have indicated the possible presense of ice within permanently shaded craters at the lunar poles [1] – a situation that, if confirmed, will have profound impacts on lunar exploration