EP022-01
Surface Investigations of Aeolian Activity on Mars: Recent Advances and Outstanding Questions
Wednesday, 9 December 2020: 07:00
Virtual
Mariah MacQueen Baker1, Claire E Newman2, Mathieu Gaetan Andre Lapotre3, Robert J Sullivan Jr4, Michelle Elaine Minitti5, Kevin W Lewis6, Constantinos Charalambous7, Catherine M Weitz8, Donald J Banfield9, Matt Golombek10, Aymeric Spiga11, Mark T Lemmon12, John A Grant III13, Nicholas H Warner14, Ashwin R Vasavada15, Ralph D Lorenz16, Kenneth S Edgett17, Deirdra M Fey17, Sharon A. Wilson18, Douglas Ellison19, David M Rubin20, James Brian Garvin21, Maria Banks22, Veronique Ansan23 and Sebastien Rodriguez24, (1)Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, (2)Aeolis Research, Tucson, AZ, United States, (3)California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (4)Cornell University, CCAPS, Ithaca, NY, United States, (5)Framework, Laurel, United States, (6)Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States, (7)Imperial College London, London, SW7, United Kingdom, (8)Planetary Science Institute Tucson, Tucson, AZ, United States, (9)Cornell University, Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Ithaca, NY, United States, (10)JPL/NASA/Caltech, Pasadena, CA, United States, (11)LMD/IPSL, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France - Institut Universitaire de France, France, Palaiseau Cedex, France, (12)Space Science Institute Boulder, Boulder, TX, United States, (13)Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, Washington, DC, United States, (14)SUNY at Geneseo, Geneseo, NY, United States, (15)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (16)JHU / APL, Laurel, MD, United States, (17)Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, CA, United States, (18)Smithsonian Inst--CEPS, Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, Washington, DC, United States, (19)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (20)University of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, United States, (21)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (22)Smithsonian Inst, Washington, DC, United States, (23)LPGN Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes, Nantes Cedex 03, France, (24)AIM - CEA/CNRS/Uni. P7, Gif/Yvette, France
Abstract:
Over the past few decades, repeat “change detection” images acquired from landed and orbiting cameras have revealed that wind is an important geomorphic agent shaping the surface of Mars. Widespread sand motion and dust lifting occur despite generally low measured and modelled winds, challenging Earth-based theories. Numerical simulations and lab experiments have provided new insights that may help reconcile this discrepancy, but validating transport models requires detailed examination of aeolian activity occurring under natural Martian surface conditions.
Data obtained from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover and the InSight lander have enabled the study of aeolian activity at finer spatial and temporal scales than previously. Change detection experiments performed along MSL’s traverse have revealed a highly active aeolian environment within Gale crater, with seasonal circulation patterns causing erosion of dump piles and migration of impact ripples. Unfortunately, it has been impossible to correlate this activity with in situ wind measurements, due to biases and gaps in the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) data. The arrival of the InSight lander on Mars in 2018 provided a new opportunity to address this issue, due to the spacecraft’s joint high-frequency meteorological and imaging capabilities. In contrast to the results at Gale crater, change detection experiments at InSight’s landing site in western Elysium Planitia have suggested that the surface is largely inactive under current climatic conditions. Aeolian activity in this location has been limited to low-flux changes in disturbed material, sporadic granule creep, and localized dust lifting caused by convective vortices identified in Auxiliary Payload Sensor Suite (APSS) data. Although in situ studies at spacecraft landing sites have greatly advanced our understanding of modern-day surface processes, they have also underscored how challenging it is to achieve a full mechanistic understanding of aeolian transport on Mars with currently available data. In particular, major outstanding questions regarding motion thresholds and sediment-flux relationships pose a significant issue for predicting aeolian activity across Mars and motivate sending dedicated aeolian instrumentation on future spacecraft.
