PERENNIAL MOUNDS IN UTOPIA PLANITIA: (HiRISE) EVIDENCE OF A GLACIAL ORIGIN

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Soare, Richard J. Osinski, Gordon R. Thomson, Linda Kohlman
Copyright Year	2009
Abstract	Introduction: “Closed” pingos are perennial icecored mounds that are formed by hydrostatic (porewater) pressure induced by localised permafrost aggradation (Fig. 1). These mounds are commonplace features of periglacial landscapes on Earth such as the Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands of northern Canada. A number of studies have reported the occurrence of mounds in the middle to northern latitudes of Utopia Planitia (UP), Mars, whose morphology, size and geological characteristics summit cracks and raised (collapselike) rims are suggestive of terrestrial pingos [1-6]. The mounds and the geological units upon which they reside are thought to be youthful, having formed in the late Amazonian period [7-11]. At least on Earth, the formation of closed pingos requires the presence of ponded water, soil saturation to metres of depth and the development of an ice core from injected and subsequently frozen pore-water [1213]. Were the occurrence of pingos on Mars to be confirmed, current hypotheses about “dry” periglacial or glacial processes dominating relatively recent landscape modifications in UP [9,13] might have to be revised.
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Alternate Webpage(s)	http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2009/pdf/1278.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article