Presence of past or present water on Mars is the strongest evidence of a living planet and an incentive for the astrobiological research looking for life signatures potentially preserved in the water-related rocks. New models of Mars hydrology localized groundwater upwelling sites in the equatorial lowlands where huge thickness of water-related sediments accompanied by peculiar morphologies have been deposited. Conical mounds and furrows are widely interpreted as the morphological evidences of fluids expulsion on the martian surface. In the Crommelin crater (equatorial Arabia Terra) furrows and conical mounds are exhumed within light-toned equatorial layered deposits (ELDs). Aim of this work is to describe these landforms assessing their potential relations with long wave-length groundwater upwelling in Crommelin area. Are the aqueous morphologies in the exact place where groundwater rises to the surface?
Long-wavelength groundwater discharge in Arabia Terra (Mars)
CAVALAZZI, BARBARA
2015
Abstract
Presence of past or present water on Mars is the strongest evidence of a living planet and an incentive for the astrobiological research looking for life signatures potentially preserved in the water-related rocks. New models of Mars hydrology localized groundwater upwelling sites in the equatorial lowlands where huge thickness of water-related sediments accompanied by peculiar morphologies have been deposited. Conical mounds and furrows are widely interpreted as the morphological evidences of fluids expulsion on the martian surface. In the Crommelin crater (equatorial Arabia Terra) furrows and conical mounds are exhumed within light-toned equatorial layered deposits (ELDs). Aim of this work is to describe these landforms assessing their potential relations with long wave-length groundwater upwelling in Crommelin area. Are the aqueous morphologies in the exact place where groundwater rises to the surface?I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
