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Title:
Seasonal Erosion and Restoration of Mars' Northern Polar Dunes
Authors:
Hansen, C. J.; Bourke, M.; Bridges, N. T.; Byrne, S.; Colon, C.; Diniega, S.; Dundas, C.; Herkenhoff, K.; McEwen, A.; Mellon, M.; Portyankina, G.; Thomas, N.
Affiliation:
AA(Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA), AB(Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA; School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK.), AC(Applied Physics Lab, John Hopkins University, Laurel, MD 20723, USA), AD(Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA), AE(Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07102, USA), AF(Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA), AG(Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA), AH(U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA), AI(Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA), AJ(Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA), AK(Space Research and Planetology Division, University of Bern, CH-0132 Bern, Switzerland.), AL(Space Research and Planetology Division, University of Bern, CH-0132 Bern, Switzerland.)
Publication:
Science, Volume 331, Issue 6017, pp. 575- (2011). (Sci Homepage)
Publication Date:
02/2011
Category:
PLANET SCI
Origin:
SCIENCE
Abstract Copyright:
(c) 2011: Science
DOI:
10.1126/science.1197636
Bibliographic Code:
2011Sci...331..575H

Abstract

Despite radically different environmental conditions, terrestrial and martian dunes bear a strong resemblance, indicating that the basic processes of saltation and grainfall (sand avalanching down the dune slipface) operate on both worlds. Here, we show that martian dunes are subject to an additional modification process not found on Earth: springtime sublimation of Mars' CO2 seasonal polar caps. Numerous dunes in Mars' north polar region have experienced morphological changes within a Mars year, detected in images acquired by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Dunes show new alcoves, gullies, and dune apron extension. This is followed by remobilization of the fresh deposits by the wind, forming ripples and erasing gullies. The widespread nature of these rapid changes, and the pristine appearance of most dunes in the area, implicates active sand transport in the vast polar erg in Mars' current climate.
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