SHALLOW-MARINE IMPACT CRATERS ON MARS?

This study investigates relatively recent imagery and topographic data gathered by sensors onboard Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey to study the general morphology of impact craters on the Martian surface. The focus is on the identification of possible shallow-marine impact craters in the region of Arabia Terra - a large area on the geologic boundary between the northern lowlands and the southern highlands that has been interpreted by some as an ancient continental shelf. If oceans existed on Mars, the Martian surface should display numerous shallow-marine crater candidates.

Some important characteristics that are associated with shallow-marine impact craters, on Earth as well as Mars, are resurge gullies, collapsed rims, and features of wet mass movement. These features should all be visible on high-resolution images and could therefore be used as key characteristics in the identification of shallow-marine impact craters. Further distinctive attributes of shallow-marine impact craters include the extent, shape, and thickness of the ejecta deposits that are blown out of the crater upon impact, as well as the volume of the crater depression.

It is possible to gain insight into the morphology of crater forms within Arabia Terra with the use of different imagery datasets. The study of shallow-marine impact craters on Mars is still in an early stage, thus the results of this study are useful in the general classification and characterization of these craters.