JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 107, NO. E1, 10.1029/2000JE001481, 2002
Terrestrial analogs to wind-related features at the Viking and Pathfinder landing sites on Mars
Department of Geological Sciences, Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona, USA
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Pasadena, California, USA
Vernadsky Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences
Moscow, Russia
Department of Geography, California State of Northridge
Northridge, California, USA
Abstract
[1] Features in the Mojave Desert and Iceland provide insight into the characteristics and origin of Martian wind-related landforms seen by the Viking and Pathfinder landers. The terrestrial sites were chosen because they exhibit diverse wind features that are generally well understood. These features have morphologies comparable to those on Mars and include origins by deposition and erosion, with erosional processes modifying both soils and rocks. Duneforms and drifts are the most common depositional features seen at the Martian landing sites and indicate supplies of sand-sized particles blown by generally unidirectional winds. Erosional features include lag deposits, moat-like depressions around some rocks, and exhumed soil horizons. They indicate that wind can deflate at least some sediments and that this process is particularly effective where the wind interacts with rocks. The formation of ripples and wind tails involves a combination of depositional and erosional processes. Rock erosional features, or ventifacts, are recognized by their overall shapes, erosional flutes, and characteristic surface textures resulting from abrasion by windblown particles. The physics of saltation requires that particles in ripples and duneforms are predominantly sand-sized (60–2000 µm). The orientations of duneforms, wind tails, moats, and ventifacts are correlated with surface winds above particle threshold. Such winds are influenced by local topography and are correlated with winds at higher altitudes predicted by atmospheric models.
Received 1 March 2001; revised 12 October 2001; accepted 12 October 2001; published 31 January 2002.
Keywords: Mars; aeolian/eolian; ventifacts; Pathfinder; Viking landers; dunes.
Index Terms: 5415 Planetology: Solid Surface Planets: Erosion and weathering; 5470 Planetology: Solid Surface Planets: Surface materials and properties; 6225 Planetology: Solar System Objects: Mars; 6207 Planetology: Solar System Objects: Comparative planetology.
Citation: Terrestrial analogs to wind-related features at the Viking and Pathfinder landing sites on Mars, J. Geophys. Res., 107(E1), 10.1029/2000JE001481, 2002.