Geomorphology of Gale Crater, Rock on! |
Geomorphology of Gale Crater, Rock on! |
Sep 26 2012, 10:22 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
I'd like a discussion thread about the geology detatched from the time limits of current MSL threads. We had a 'Geomorphology of Cape York' thread that attracted a lot of interesting posts. How about 'Geomorphology of Gale Crater'? I have one or two ideas but many more questions, and I'd like to post them in a longer-running thread away from the day to day imaging discussion. Any other takers?
For starters, does anybody have a contour map of this place like the one at Meridiani with 5m intervals? ADMIN: You have your wishes fulfilled on UMSF (sometimes) |
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Oct 6 2012, 09:30 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
I am particularly intrigued by the enclosed depression on the right of Peter's contoured elevation map:
http://petergrindrod.net/wp-content/upload...g-site-topo.png The depression coincides exactly with the outer margin of the high thermal inertia fan (HTIF). I'm also curious about where the substantial quantity of flowing water that formed the fan was actually flowing to. I'm toying with the idea that it spread out and froze in place, forming over time a substantial ice deposit. I don't know the proper name for such a thing so for now I'm calling it an 'ice snout'. Maybe all of the HTIF is a marker for the former extent of the ice snout. Sublimation of volatiles is widely invoked to explain hollows. Here we appear to have a hollow and a ready supply of volatile material at some time in the past. There are what look like polygonal markings on the bottom of the depression. Where have we seen that before? I can't wait to get down there. |
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