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Williams KE, Heldmann JL, McKay CP, Mellon MT. The effects of snow and salt on ice table stability in University Valley, Antarctica. ANTARCTIC SCIENCE 2018; 30:67-78. [PMID: 32818010 PMCID: PMC7430506 DOI: 10.1017/s0954102017000402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The Antarctic Dry Valleys represent a unique environment where it is possible to study dry permafrost overlaying an ice-rich permafrost. In this paper, two opposing mechanisms for ice table stability in University Valley are addressed: i) diffusive recharge via thin seasonal snow deposits andii) desiccation via salt deposits in the upper soil column. A high-resolution time-marching soil and snow model was constructed and applied to University Valley, driven by meteorological station atmospheric measurements. It was found that periodic thin surficial snow deposits (observed in University Valley) are capable of drastically slowing (if not completely eliminating) the underlying ice table ablation. The effects of NaCl, CaCl2 and perchlorate deposits were then modelled. Unlike the snow cover, however, the presence of salt in the soil surface (but no periodic snow) results in a slight increase in the ice table recession rate, due to the hygroscopic effects of salt sequestering vapour from the ice table below. Near-surface pore ice frequently forms when large amounts of salt are present in the soil due to the suppression of the saturation vapour pressure. Implications for Mars high latitudes are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- K E Williams
- Montana State University, Department of Earth Sciences, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
- US Geological Survey, Astrogeology Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
| | - J L Heldmann
- NASA Ames Research Center, Division of Space Sciences and Astrobiology, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
| | - Christopher P McKay
- NASA Ames Research Center, Division of Space Sciences and Astrobiology, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
| | - Michael T Mellon
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Planetary Exploration Group, Laurel, MD 20723, USA
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Rummel JD, Beaty DW, Jones MA, Bakermans C, Barlow NG, Boston PJ, Chevrier VF, Clark BC, de Vera JPP, Gough RV, Hallsworth JE, Head JW, Hipkin VJ, Kieft TL, McEwen AS, Mellon MT, Mikucki JA, Nicholson WL, Omelon CR, Peterson R, Roden EE, Sherwood Lollar B, Tanaka KL, Viola D, Wray JJ. A new analysis of Mars "Special Regions": findings of the second MEPAG Special Regions Science Analysis Group (SR-SAG2). ASTROBIOLOGY 2014; 14:887-968. [PMID: 25401393 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2014.1227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 148] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
A committee of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) has reviewed and updated the description of Special Regions on Mars as places where terrestrial organisms might replicate (per the COSPAR Planetary Protection Policy). This review and update was conducted by an international team (SR-SAG2) drawn from both the biological science and Mars exploration communities, focused on understanding when and where Special Regions could occur. The study applied recently available data about martian environments and about terrestrial organisms, building on a previous analysis of Mars Special Regions (2006) undertaken by a similar team. Since then, a new body of highly relevant information has been generated from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (launched in 2005) and Phoenix (2007) and data from Mars Express and the twin Mars Exploration Rovers (all 2003). Results have also been gleaned from the Mars Science Laboratory (launched in 2011). In addition to Mars data, there is a considerable body of new data regarding the known environmental limits to life on Earth-including the potential for terrestrial microbial life to survive and replicate under martian environmental conditions. The SR-SAG2 analysis has included an examination of new Mars models relevant to natural environmental variation in water activity and temperature; a review and reconsideration of the current parameters used to define Special Regions; and updated maps and descriptions of the martian environments recommended for treatment as "Uncertain" or "Special" as natural features or those potentially formed by the influence of future landed spacecraft. Significant changes in our knowledge of the capabilities of terrestrial organisms and the existence of possibly habitable martian environments have led to a new appreciation of where Mars Special Regions may be identified and protected. The SR-SAG also considered the impact of Special Regions on potential future human missions to Mars, both as locations of potential resources and as places that should not be inadvertently contaminated by human activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- John D Rummel
- 1 Department of Biology, East Carolina University , Greenville, North Carolina, USA
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Hauber E, Reiss D, Ulrich M, Preusker F, Trauthan F, Zanetti M, Hiesinger H, Jaumann R, Johansson L, Johnsson A, Van Gasselt S, Olvmo M. Landscape evolution in Martian mid-latitude regions: insights from analogous periglacial landforms in Svalbard. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011. [DOI: 10.1144/sp356.7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
AbstractPeriglacial landforms on Spitsbergen (Svalbard, Norway) are morphologically similar to landforms on Mars that are probably related to the past and/or present existence of ice at or near the surface. Many of these landforms, such as gullies, debris-flow fans, polygonal terrain, fractured mounds and rock-glacier-like features, are observed in close spatial proximity in mid-latitude craters on Mars. On Svalbard, analogous landforms occur in strikingly similar proximity, which makes them useful study cases to infer the spatial and chronological evolution of Martian cold-climate surface processes. The analysis of the morphological inventory of analogous landforms on Svalbard and Mars allows the processes operating on Mars to be constrained. Different qualitative scenarios of landscape evolution on Mars help to better understand the action of periglacial processes on Mars in the recent past.
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Affiliation(s)
- E. Hauber
- Institut für Planetenforschung, DLR, Rutherfordstrasse 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - D. Reiss
- Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - M. Ulrich
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
| | - F. Preusker
- Institut für Planetenforschung, DLR, Rutherfordstrasse 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - F. Trauthan
- Institut für Planetenforschung, DLR, Rutherfordstrasse 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - M. Zanetti
- Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - H. Hiesinger
- Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - R. Jaumann
- Institut für Planetenforschung, DLR, Rutherfordstrasse 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - L. Johansson
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 460, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - A. Johnsson
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 460, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - S. Van Gasselt
- Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteserstrasse 74-100, 12249 Berlin, Germany
| | - M. Olvmo
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 460, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
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Sizemore HG, Mellon MT, Searls ML, Lemmon MT, Zent AP, Heet TL, Arvidson RE, Blaney DL, Keller HU. In situ analysis of ice table depth variations in the vicinity of small rocks at the Phoenix landing site. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1029/2009je003414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Mellon MT, Arvidson RE, Sizemore HG, Searls ML, Blaney DL, Cull S, Hecht MH, Heet TL, Keller HU, Lemmon MT, Markiewicz WJ, Ming DW, Morris RV, Pike WT, Zent AP. Ground ice at the Phoenix Landing Site: Stability state and origin. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1029/2009je003417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 140] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Byrne S, Dundas CM, Kennedy MR, Mellon MT, McEwen AS, Cull SC, Daubar IJ, Shean DE, Seelos KD, Murchie SL, Cantor BA, Arvidson RE, Edgett KS, Reufer A, Thomas N, Harrison TN, Posiolova LV, Seelos FP. Distribution of mid-latitude ground ice on Mars from new impact craters. Science 2009; 325:1674-6. [PMID: 19779195 DOI: 10.1126/science.1175307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
New impact craters at five sites in the martian mid-latitudes excavated material from depths of decimeters that has a brightness and color indicative of water ice. Near-infrared spectra of the largest example confirm this composition, and repeated imaging showed fading over several months, as expected for sublimating ice. Thermal models of one site show that millimeters of sublimation occurred during this fading period, indicating clean ice rather than ice in soil pores. Our derived ice-table depths are consistent with models using higher long-term average atmospheric water vapor content than present values. Craters at most of these sites may have excavated completely through this clean ice, probing the ice table to previously unsampled depths of meters and revealing substantial heterogeneity in the vertical distribution of the ice itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shane Byrne
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
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Lefort A, Russell PS, Thomas N, McEwen AS, Dundas CM, Kirk RL. Observations of periglacial landforms in Utopia Planitia with the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1029/2008je003264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Chamberlain MA, Boynton WV. Response of Martian ground ice to orbit-induced climate change. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.1029/2006je002801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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