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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 33, L05202, doi:10.1029/2005GL024263, 2006

Probing structural elements of small buried craters using ground-penetrating radar in the southwestern Egyptian desert: Implications for Mars shallow sounding

Essam Heggy

Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas, USA


Philippe Paillou

Observatoire de Bordeaux, UMR 5804, Floirac, France


Abstract

We report results from a field survey performed on a recently discovered impact field in the southwestern Egyptian desert, using a 270 MHz Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR). This hyperarid region has significant similarities to the Martian heavily eroded mid-latitude cratered terrains in terms of crater density, size, and geomorphology. Profiles across small-buried craters revealed a coherent sequence of tilted layers constituting the cratonic infill resulting from aeolian deposits. In the intercrater areas the radargram revealed a poorly-defined subsurface stratigraphy and the presence of shallow structural elements associated with potential evidences of the consequences of the shock effects, i.e., faulting, fractures, and chaotic bedrock. The radar-penetration depth varied from 2 to 15 m, depending mainly on the amplitude of the volume and multiple scattering in the subsurface, caused by fractures and debris created by the impacts. We conclude that mid-frequency GPR onboard future Martian rovers can successfully perform similar structural mapping.

Received 4 August 2005; accepted 28 December 2005; published 14 March 2006.

Index Terms: 0933 Exploration Geophysics: Remote sensing; 5420 Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Impact phenomena, cratering (6022, 8136); 5494 Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Instruments and techniques; 6022 Planetary Sciences: Comets and Small Bodies: Impact phenomena (5420, 8136); 8136 Tectonophysics: Impact phenomena (5420, 6022).

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Citation: Heggy, E., and P. Paillou (2006), Probing structural elements of small buried craters using ground-penetrating radar in the southwestern Egyptian desert: Implications for Mars shallow sounding, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L05202, doi:10.1029/2005GL024263.