High outflow channels on Mars indicate Hesperian recharge at low latitudes and the presence of Canyon Lakes     

Neil M. Coleman  Cynthia L. Dinwiddie 《Icarus》2007,189(2):344-361

A number of martian outflow channels were carved by discharges from large dilational fault zones. These channels were sourced by groundwater, not surface water, and when observed on high-standing plateaus they provide indicators of elevated paleo-groundwater levels. We identify three outflow channels of Hesperian age that issued from a 750-km-long fault zone extending from Candor Chasma to Ganges Chasma. Two of these channels, Allegheny Vallis and Walla Walla Vallis, have sources >2500 m above the topographic datum, too high to be explained by discharge from a global aquifer that was recharged solely in the south polar region. The indicated groundwater levels likely required regional sources of recharge at low latitudes. The floodwaters that erupted from Ophir Cavus to form Allegheny Vallis encountered two ridges that restricted the flow, forming temporary lakes. The flow probably breached or overtopped these obstructions quickly, catastrophically draining the lakes and carving several scablands. After the last obstacle had been breached, a single main channel formed that captured all subsequent flow. We performed hydrologic analyses of this intermediate phase of the flooding, prior to incision of the channel to its present depth. Using floodwater depths of 30-60 m, we calculated flow velocities of 6-15 m s⁻¹ and discharges in the range of . Locally higher flow velocities and discharges likely occurred when the transient lakes were drained. Variable erosion at the channel and scabland crossing of MOLA pass 10644 suggests that the upper 25-30 m may consist of poorly consolidated surface materials underlain by more cohesive bedrock. We infer that an ice-covered lake with a surface elevation >2500 m probably existed in eastern Candor Chasma because this canyon is intersected by the Ophir Catenae fault system from which Allegheny Vallis and Walla Walla Vallis originated. We introduce a new hydrology concept for Mars in which the groundwater system was augmented by recharge from canyon lakes that were formed when water was released by catastrophic melting of former ice sheets in Tharsis by effusions of flood basalts. This model could help to reconcile the expected presence of a thick cryosphere during the Hesperian with the abundant evidence for groundwater as a source for some of the circum-Chryse outflow channels.  相似文献   

Arecibo radar observations of Phobos and Deimos     

Michael W. Busch  Steven J. Ostro  Jon D. Giorgini  Ellen S. Howell  Alice A. Hine  Irwin I. Shapiro 《Icarus》2007,186(2):581-584

In November 2005, we observed the moons of Mars using the Arecibo 2380-MHz (13-cm) radar, obtaining a result for the OC radar albedo of Phobos (0.056±0.014) consistent with its previously reported radar albedo and implying an upper bound on its near-surface bulk density of . We detected Deimos by radar for the first time, finding its OC radar albedo to be 0.021±0.006, implying an upper bound on its near-surface density of , consistent with a high-porosity regolith. We briefly discuss reasons for these low radar albedos, Deimos' being possibly the lowest of any Solar System body yet observed by radar.  相似文献   

Oxygen and carbon isotope ratios in the martian atmosphere     

Vladimir A. Krasnopolsky  Jean Pierre Maillard  Tobias C. Owen  Robert A. Toth  Michael D. Smith 《Icarus》2007,192(2):396-403

Oxygen and carbon isotope ratios in the martian CO₂ are key values to study evolution of volatiles on Mars. The major problems in spectroscopic determinations of these ratios on Mars are uncertainties associated with: (1) equivalent widths of the observed absorption lines, (2) line strengths in spectroscopic databases, and (3) thermal structure of the martian atmosphere during the observation. We have made special efforts to reduce all these uncertainties. We observed Mars using the Fourier Transform Spectrometer at the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope. While the oxygen and carbon isotope ratios on Mars were byproducts in the previous observations, our observation was specifically aimed at these isotope ratios. We covered a range of 6022 to 6308 cm⁻¹ with the highest resolving power of ν/δν=3.5×10⁵ and a signal-to-noise ratio of 180 in the middle of the spectrum. The chosen spectral range involves 475 lines of the main isotope, 184 lines of ¹³CO₂, 181 lines of CO¹⁸O, and 119 lines of CO¹⁷O. (Lines with strengths exceeding 10⁻²⁷ cm at 218 K are considered here.) Due to the high spectral resolution, most of the lines are not blended. Uncertainties of retrieved isotope abundances are in inverse proportion to resolving power, signal-to-noise ratio, and square root of the number of lines. Laboratory studies of the CO₂ isotope spectra in the range of our observation achieved an accuracy of 1% in the line strengths. Detailed observations of temperature profiles using MGS/TES and data on temperature variations with local time from two GCMs are used to simulate each absorption line at various heights in each part of the instrument field of view and then sum up the results. Thermal radiation of Mars' surface and atmosphere is negligible in the chosen spectral range, and this reduces errors associated with uncertainties in the thermal structure on Mars. Using a combination of all these factors, the highest accuracy has been achieved in measuring the CO₂ isotope ratios: ¹³C/¹²C = 0.978 ± 0.020 and ¹⁸O/¹⁶O = 1.018 ± 0.018 times the terrestrial standards. Heavy isotopes in the atmosphere are enriched by nonthermal escape and sputtering, and depleted by fractionation with solid-phase reservoirs. The retrieved ratios show that isotope fractionation between CO₂ and oxygen and carbon reservoirs in the solid phase is almost balanced by nonthermal escape and sputtering of O and C from Mars.  相似文献   

The role of diagenesis and depositional facies on pore system evolution in a Triassic outcrop analogue (SE Spain)     

《Marine and Petroleum Geology》2014

This study aims at unravelling the diagenetic history and its effect on the pore system evolution of the Triassic redbeds exposed in SE Spain (TIBEM¹), an outcrop analogue of the TAGI (Trias Argilo-Gréseux Inférieur) reservoir (Berkine-Ghadames Basin, Algeria). Similar climatic, base level and tectonic conditions of aforementioned alluvial formations developed analogue fluvial facies stacking patterns. Furthermore, interplay of similar detrital composition and depositional facies in both formations resulted in analogue early diagenetic features. Petrographic observations indicate lithic subarkosic (floodplain facies) and subarkosic (braidplain facies) compositions which are considered suitable frameworks for potential reservoir rocks. Primary porosity is mainly reduced during early diagenesis through moderate mechanical compaction and formation of K-feldspar overgrowth, gypsum, dolomite and phyllosilicate cements. Early mesodiagenesis is testified by low chemical compaction and quartz cementation. Telodiagenetic calcite filling fractures and K-feldspar dissolution determined the final configuration of analysed sandstones. Mercury injection-capillary pressure technique reveals overbank deposits in the floodplain as the least suitable potential reservoirs because of their lowest open porosity (OP < 16%), permeability (k < 5 mD) and small dimensions. On the other hand, braidplain deposits show the highest values of such properties (OP up to 31.6% and k > 95 mD) and greater thickness and lateral continuity, so being considered the best potential reservoir. The accurate estimation of TIBEM microscale attributes can provide important input for appraisal and enhanced oil recovery performance in TAGI and in others reservoirs consisting on similar fluvial sandy facies.  相似文献   

多种风电场风速预报订正方法的适用性研究与集成应用          下载免费PDF全文

徐丽娜  申彦波  冯震  叶虎 《干旱区地理》2022,45(4):1114-1124

以内蒙古中部某风电场为实验风电场,采用随机森林（Random forest,RF）方法、相似误差订正（Analogue correction of errors,ACE）方法以及概率密度匹配方法（Probability density function matching method,PDF）分别对风电场风速预报进行订正及适用性研究。结果表明：3种方法在各季均对中尺度天气预报模式（Weather research and forecasting model, WRF）风速预报具有不同程度的订正效果,RF方法可以有效改善WRF误差较大的问题,但兼具误差过分放大情况,ACE方法和PDF虽然对较大误差的改善能力不及RF方法,但是能够较好地控制误差过分放大问题。此外,3种方法针对小于5 m·s^-1的小风速段,订正效果不理想,随着风速的增加,订正能力逐渐增强。参照预报模型各自的优势,尝试开展多种预报模型的分风速等级集成应用,可以对不同风速等级下的WRF预报起到较好的改善作用。  相似文献   

Martian water vapor: Mars Express PFS/LW observations     

T. Fouchet  E. Lellouch  F. Forget  M. Tschimmel  V. Formisano  A. Maturilli 《Icarus》2007,190(1):32-49

We present the seasonal and geographical variations of the martian water vapor monitored from the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer Long Wavelength Channel aboard the Mars Express spacecraft. Our dataset covers one martian year (end of Mars Year 26, Mars Year 27), but the seasonal coverage is far from complete. The seasonal and latitudinal behavior of the water vapor is globally consistent with previous datasets, Viking Orbiter Mars Atmospheric Water Detectors (MAWD) and Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (MGS/TES), and with simultaneous results obtained from other Mars Express instruments, OMEGA and SPICAM. However, our absolute water columns are lower and higher by a factor of 1.5 than the values obtained by TES and SPICAM, respectively. In particular, we retrieve a Northern midsummer maximum of 60 pr-μm, lower than the 100-pr-μm observed by TES. The geographical distribution of water exhibits two local maxima at low latitudes, located over Tharsis and Arabia. Global Climate Model (GCM) simulations suggest that these local enhancements are controlled by atmospheric dynamics. During Northern spring, we observe a bulge of water vapor over the seasonal polar cap edge, consistent with the northward transport of water from the retreating seasonal cap to the permanent polar cap. In terms of vertical distribution, we find that the water volume mixing ratio over the large volcanos remains constant with the surface altitude within a factor of two. However, on the whole dataset we find that the water column, normalized to a fixed pressure, is anti-correlated with the surface pressure, indicating a vertical distribution intermediate between control by atmospheric saturation and confinement to a surface layer. This anti-correlation is not reproduced by GCM simulations of the water cycle, which do not include exchange between atmospheric and subsurface water. This situation suggests a possible role for regolith-atmosphere exchange in the martian water cycle.  相似文献   

Point pattern analysis of north polar crescentic dunes, Mars: A geography of dune self-organization     

Mark A. Bishop 《Icarus》2007,191(1):151-157

The geographic signature of dune distribution and self-organization as measured by the R-statistic offers a viewpoint on the geography of crescentic eolian systems and proposes an index from which to determine the degree of self-organization across a variety of spatial scales. Fields of simple dunes (dome, barchan, barchan-seif) are comparatively less regular in distribution than are those fields, or part thereof, that consist of compound (barchanoid) morphologies whose patterns are more highly regular.  相似文献   

The shielding effect of small-scale martian surface geometry on ultraviolet flux   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

J.E. Moores  P.H. Smith  R. Tanner  A.C. Schuerger  K.J. Venkateswaran 《Icarus》2007,192(2):417-433

The atmosphere of Mars does little to attenuate incoming ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Large amounts of UV radiation sterilize the hardiest of terrestrial organisms within minutes, and chemically alter the soil such that organic molecules at or near the surface are rapidly destroyed. Thus the survival of any putative martian life near the surface depends to a large extent on how much UV radiation it receives. Variations in small-scale geometry of the surface such as pits, trenches, flat faces and overhangs can have a significant effect on the incident UV flux and may create “safe havens” for organisms and organic molecules. In order to examine this effect, a 1-D radiative transfer sky model with 836 meshed points (plus the Sun) was developed which includes both diffuse and direct components of the surface irradiance. This model derives the variation of UV flux with latitude and an object's Geometric Shielding Ratio (a ratio which describes the geometry of each situation). The best protection is offered by overhangs with flux reduced to a factor of 1.8±0.2×10⁻⁵ of the unprotected value, a reduction which does not vary significantly by latitude. Pits and cracks are less effective with a reduction in UV flux of only up to 4.5±0.5×10⁻³ for the modeled scenarios; however, they are more effective for the same geometric shielding ratio than overhangs at high latitudes due to the low height of the Sun in the sky. Lastly, polar faces of rocks have the least effective shielding geometry with at most a 1.1±0.1×10⁻¹ reduction in UV flux. Polar faces of rocks are most effective at mid latitudes where the Sun is never directly overhead, as at tropical latitudes, and never exposes the back of the rock, as at polar latitudes. In the most favorable cases, UV flux is sufficiently reduced such that organic in-fall could accumulate beneath overhanging surfaces and in pits and cracks. As well, hardy terrestrial microorganisms such as Bacillus pumilus could persist for up to 100 sols on the outer surfaces of typical spacecraft or several tens of martian years in the most shielded surface niches.  相似文献   

Assimilation of thermal emission spectrometer atmospheric data during the Mars Global Surveyor aerobraking period     

Stephen R. Lewis  Peter L. Read  Barney J. Conrath  John C. Pearl  Michael D. Smith 《Icarus》2007,192(2):327-347

The Thermal Emission Spectrometer aboard the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has produced an extensive atmospheric data set, beginning during aerobraking and continuing throughout the extended scientific mapping phase. Temperature profiles for the atmosphere below about 40 km, surface temperatures and total dust and water ice opacities, can be retrieved from infrared spectra in nadir viewing mode. This paper describes assimilation of nadir retrievals from the spacecraft aerobraking period, L_S=190°–260°, northern hemisphere autumn to winter, into a Mars general circulation model. The assimilation scheme is able to combine information from temperature and dust optical depth retrievals, making use of a model forecast containing information from the assimilation of earlier observations, to obtain a global, time-dependent analysis. Given sufficient temperature retrievals, the assimilation procedure indicates errors in the a priori dust distribution assumptions even when lacking dust observations; in this case there are relatively cold regions above the poles compared to a model which assumes a horizontally-uniform dust distribution. One major reason for using assimilation techniques is in order to investigate the transient wave behavior on Mars. Whilst the data from the 2-h spacecraft mapping orbit phase is much more suitable for assimilation, even the longer (45–24 h) period aerobraking orbit data contain useful information about the three-dimensional synoptic-scale martian circulation which the assimilation procedure can reconstruct in a consistent way. Assimilations from the period of the Noachis regional dust storm demonstrate that the combined assimilation of temperature and dust retrievals has a beneficial impact on the atmospheric analysis.  相似文献   

Valley formation on martian volcanoes in the Hesperian: Evidence for melting of summit snowpack, caldera lake formation, drainage and erosion on Ceraunius Tholus     

Caleb I. Fassett 《Icarus》2007,189(1):118-135

Ceraunius Tholus, a Hesperian-aged volcano in the Tharsis region, is characterized by small radial valleys on its flanks, and several larger valleys originating near its summit caldera. All of these large valleys drain from near the lowest present portion of the caldera rim and down the flanks of the volcano. The largest valley debauches into Rahe Crater (an oblique impact crater), forming a depositional fan. Recent study of climate change on Mars suggests that many low-latitude regions (especially large volcanic edifices) were periodically the sites of snow accumulation, likely triggered by variations in spin orbital parameters. We apply a conductive heat flow model to Ceraunius Tholus that suggests that following magmatic intrusion, sufficient heating would be available to cause basal melting of any accumulated summit snowpack and produce sufficient meltwater to cause the radial valleys. The geometry of the volcano summit caldera suggests that meltwater would also accumulate in a volumetrically significant caldera lake. Analysis of the morphology and volumes of the largest valley, as well as depositional features at its base, suggest that fluvial erosion due to drainage of this summit caldera lake formed the large valleys, in a manner analogous to how valleys were formed catastrophically from a lake in Aniakchak caldera in Alaska. Moreover, the event which carved the largest valley on Ceraunius Tholus appears to have led to the formation of a temporary lake within Rahe Crater, at its base. The more abundant, small valleys on the flanks are interpreted to form by radial drainage of melted ice or snow from the outside of the caldera rim. Comparison of Ceraunius Tholus with the volcano-capping Icelandic ice sheet Myrdalsjokull provides insight into the detailed mechanisms of summit heating, ice-cap accumulation and melting, and meltwater drainage. These observations further underline the importance of a combination of circumstances (i.e., climate change to produce summit snowpack and an active period of magmatism to produce melting) to form the valley systems on some martian volcanoes and not on others.  相似文献