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Erosion Rates at the Mars Exploration Rover Landing Sites and Long-Term Climate Change on MarsErosion rates derived from the Gusev cratered plains and the erosion of weak sulfates by saltating sand at Meridiani Planum are so slow that they argue that the present dry and desiccating environment has persisted since the Early Hesperian. In contrast, sedimentary rocks at Meridiani formed in the presence of groundwater and occasional surface water, and many Columbia Hills rocks at Gusev underwent aqueous alteration during the Late Noachian, approximately coeval with a wide variety of geomorphic indicators that indicate a wetter and likely warmer environment. Two-toned rocks, elevated ventifacts, and perched and undercut rocks indicate localized deflation of the Gusev plains and deposition of an equivalent amount of sediment into craters to form hollows, suggesting average erosion rates of approx.0.03 nm/yr. Erosion of Hesperian craters, modification of Late Amazonian craters, and the concentration of hematite concretions in the soils of Meridiani yield slightly higher average erosion rates of 1-10 nm/yr in the Amazonian. These erosion rates are 2-5 orders of magnitude lower than the slowest continental denudation rates on Earth, indicating that liquid water was not an active erosional agent. Erosion rates for Meridiani just before deposition of the sulfate-rich sediments and other eroded Noachian areas are comparable with slow denudation rates on Earth that are dominated by liquid water. Available data suggest the climate change at the landing sites from wet and likely warm to dry and desiccating occurred sometime between the Late Noachian and the beginning of the Late Hesperian (3.7-3.5 Ga).
Document ID
20070032661
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Golombek, M. P.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Grant, J. A.
(Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC, United States)
Crumpler, L. S.
(New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Albuquerque, NM, United States)
Greeley, R.
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Arvidson, R. E.
(Washington Univ. Saint Louis, MO, United States)
Bell, J. F., III
(Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY, United States)
Weitz, C. M.
(Planetary Science Inst. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Sullivan, R.
(Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY, United States)
Christensen, P. R.
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Soderblom, L. A.
(Geological Survey Flagstaff, AZ, United States)
Squyres, S. W.
(Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
December 8, 2006
Publication Information
Publication: Journal Of Geophysical Research
Volume: 111
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Geophysics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
weathering
Mars
environment
surficial geology
erosion rates
erosion
aqueous

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