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Read Full Article (file size: 1743577 bytes) Cited by
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).
Read Full Article (file size: 1743577 bytes) Cited by
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.
Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.
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