Start |Author Index | View Uploaded Presentations | Meeting Information

2005 Salt Lake City Annual Meeting (October 16–19, 2005)

Paper No. 6
Presentation Time: 3:10 PM

MARTIAN ALLUVIAL FANS


KRAAL, Erin, Department of Earth Science 1156 High Street, University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, ASPHAUG, Erik, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High St, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, MOORE, Jeff, NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3, Moffet Field, CA 94035 and HOWARD, Alan, Department of Environmental Science, University of Virginia, 205 Clark Hall, Charlottesville, VA 22904, ekraal@pmc.ucsc.edu

The recent discovery of alluvial fans in impact crater basins indicates yet another dynamic sedimentary system is active on the Martian surface. All Martian alluvial fans identified to date originate from the rims of craters, the alcoves are in the steep rim topography and the aprons are in the shallow crater bowl basins. Martian fans have the same distinctive ‘cone-shaped' debris apron and similar topographic profiles as their terrestrial counterparts; some of the fans have fluvial channel networks preserved on their surface. Martian fans are large compared to terrestrial fans and have a distinctive regional grouping in the southern hemisphere. Here we discuss the formation of these features under Martian conditions and focus in particular on the reasons for the distinctive grouping including impact cratering processes, regional geology, and Martian climate history.

Session No. 249

T72. Sedimentology Goes to Mars
Wednesday, 19 October 2005: 1:30 PM-5:30 PM
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 37, No. 7, p.545
© Copyright 2005 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.
Back to: T72. Sedimentology Goes to Mars
<< Previous Abstract | Next Abstract >>