POPULATION STATISTICS OF PITTED CONE FEATURES IN UTOPIA PLANITIA

Utopia Planitia, one of the northern plains of Mars, displays enigmatic morphological features named pitted cones. These are quasi-elliptical, cone-like features which display single central craters, and may be formed through classical volcanism, mud volcanism, ice related-processes, or other mechanisms. They display a variety of spatial distributions, from single cones to organized chains. We study spatial clustering of pitted cones to determine constraints between cone spacing and formation mechanisms. We map pitted cones over two neighboring 4-degree x 4-degree areas on CTX base images; Area 1 spans 18°-22°N, 108°-112°E and Area 2 spans 22°-26°N, 108°- 112°E. Neighboring areas allow for direct comparison of cone statistics and clustering trends over the southern region of Utopia Planitia. Each cone is mapped as a point feature in ArcMap 10.8; the point is placed in the approximate center of the central crater of each cone. Using the ArcMap 10.8 Nearest Neighbor tool, we compute pitted cone population statistical analyses. Clustered cone distributions suggest that cone formation is spatially constrained, possibly driven by local shared reservoirs.