Cabrol / Grin Lakes on Mars

1. Auflage 2010
ISBN: 978-0-08-093162-3
Verlag: Elsevier Science & Techn.
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 410 Seiten

On Earth, lakes provide favorable environments for the development of life and its preservation as fossils. They are extremely sensitive to climate fluctuations and to conditions within their watersheds. As such, lakes are unique markers of the impact of environmental changes. Past and current missions have now demonstrated that water once flowed at the surface of Mars early in its history. Evidence of ancient ponding has been uncovered at scales ranging from a few kilometers to possibly that of the Arctic ocean. Whether life existed on Mars is still unknown; upcoming missions may find critical evidence to address this question in ancient lakebeds as clues about Mars' climate evolution and its habitability potential are still preserved in their sedimentary record. Lakes on Mars is the first review on this subject. It is written by leading planetary scientists who have dedicated their careers to searching and exploring the questions of water, lakes, and oceans on Mars through their involvement in planetary exploration, and the analysis of orbital and ground data beginning with Viking up to the most recent missions. In thirteen chapters, Lakes on Mars critically discusses new data and explores the role that water played in the evolution of the surface of Mars, the past hydrological provinces of the planet, the possibility of heated lake habitats through enhanced geothermal flux associated with volcanic activity and impact cratering. The book also explores alternate hypotheses to explain the geological record. Topographic, morphologic, stratigraphic, and mineralogic evidence are presented that suggest successions of ancient lake environments in Valles Marineris and Hellas. The existence of large lakes and/or small oceans in Elysium and the Northern Plains is supported both by the global distribution of deltaic deposits and by equipotential surfaces that may reflect their past margins. Whether those environments were conducive to life has yet to be demonstrated but from comparison with our planet, their sedimentary deposits may provide the best opportunity to find its record, if any. The final chapters explore the impact of climate variability on declining lake habitats in one of the closest terrestrial analogs to Mars at the Noachian/Hesperian transition, identify the geologic, morphologic and mineralogic signatures of ancient lakes to be searched for on Mars, and present the case for landing the Mars Science Laboratory mission in such an environment. - First review on the subject by worldwide leading authorities in the field - New studies with most recent data, new images, figures, and maps - Most recent results from research in terrestrial analogs

Autoren/Hrsg.

Cabrol, Nathalie A.

Grin, Edmond A.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Cover;1
2;Lakes on Mars;2
3;Copyright;5
4;Contents;6
5;Something special about Mars;10
6;List of acronyms;12
7;List of contributors;14
8;Foreword;16
9;1 Searching for lakes on Mars: four decades of exploration;22
9.1;1.1 Introduction;22
9.2;1.2 Conditions at the time of lake formation;24
9.3;1.3 The lake record of Mars;33
9.4;1.4 Time machines;39
10;2 Acquisition and history of water on Mars;52
10.1;2.1 Introduction;52
10.2;2.2 Acquisition and retention of water;53
10.3;2.3 Early geologic events;55
10.4;2.4 The Noachian era;57
10.5;2.5 Hesperian era;65
10.6;2.6 Amazonian era;73
10.7;2.7 Summary;79
11;3 Hydrologic provinces of Mars: physiographic controls ondrainage and ponding;90
11.1;3.1 Introduction;90
11.2;3.2 Physiographic control;92
11.3;3.3 Hydrologic provinces;94
11.4;3.4 Discussion;105
12;4 Heated lakes on Mars;112
12.1;4.1 Introduction;112
12.2;4.2 Sources of water;114
12.3;4.3 Sources of heat;116
12.4;4.4 Discussion;121
12.5;4.5 Conclusions;123
13;5 Lakes in Valles Marineris;132
13.1;5.1 Introduction;132
13.2;5.2 The Mariner Era;132
13.3;5.3 The Viking Era;136
13.4;5.4 The MGS Era;147
13.5;5.5 Odyssey and beyond;153
13.6;5.6 Discussion;165
13.7;5.7 Summary and conclusion;173
14;6 Episodic ponding and outburst flooding associated with chaoticterrains in Valles Marineris;184
14.1;6.1 Introduction;184
14.2;6.2 Topographic constraints on lake setting;186
14.3;6.3 Morphological evidence of a VMD paleolake;187
14.4;6.4 Discussion;204
14.5;6.5 Conclusions;210
15;7 Evidence for ancient lakes in the Hellas region;216
15.1;7.1 Introduction;216
15.2;7.2 Regional geology;219
15.3;7.3 Valley networks and canyons as sources of lake water;219
15.4;7.4 Ancient lake shorelines: regional relations between topography,morphology, and mineralogy;221
15.5;7.5 Light-toned layered deposits;228
15.6;7.6 Discussion;234
15.7;7.7 Conclusions;236
16;8 Deltas and valley networks on Mars: implications for a globalhydrosphere;244
16.1;8.1 Introduction;244
16.2;8.2 Deltas on Mars;246
16.3;8.3 Valley networks;256
16.4;8.4 A Test of the Martian ocean;259
16.5;8.5 Summary;264
17;9 The northern plains: A Martian oceanic basin?;270
17.1;9.1 Introduction;270
17.2;9.2 Coastlines and topography;273
17.3;9.3 Proposed “shorelines” and related landforms in the westDeuteronilus Mensae/east Acidalia Region;275
17.4;9.4 Discussion;291
18;10 The Western Elysium Planitia Paleolake;296
18.1;10.1 Introduction;296
18.2;10.2 Western Elysium Basin: general description;299
18.3;10.3 Landforms;306
18.4;10.4 Formation age of the Western Elysium Basin deposits;313
18.5;10.5 Discussion;314
18.6;10.6 Conclusions;322
19;11 The sedimentary record of modern and ancient dry lakes;328
19.1;11.1 Introduction;328
19.2;11.2 Facies and sedimentary environments;329
19.3;11.3 Sabkhas as Mars analogs;339
20;12 Aqueous depositional settings in Holden crater, Mars;344
20.1;12.1 Introduction;344
20.2;12.2 Geomorphic setting;347
20.3;12.3 Geologic history;348
20.4;12.4 Holden crater stratigraphy;349
20.5;12.5 Origin of stratigraphy in Holden crater;357
20.6;12.6 Discussion;362
21;13 Dynamics of declining lake habitat in changing climate;368
21.1;13.1 Introduction;368
21.2;13.2 Environmental analogy to Mars;370
21.3;13.3 Methods;372
21.4;13.4 Results;374
21.5;13.5 Conclusion;383
22;Author Index;392
23;Subject Index;402