pit floor craters on mercury evidence of near surface igneous activity abstract high resolution images obtained during the first mercury surface space environment geochemistry and ranging messenger flyby of mercury show evidence for igneous modification of the surface through the formation of pit craters on the floors of several impact craters pit craters are rimless steep sided depressions that are inferred to have formed by non impact processes among the arguments in favor of this interpretation are that the features lack evident rims exhibit no observable ejecta are irregularly shaped e g subcircular elliptical or arcuate with the long axis of the pit crater often concentric to the rim of the host impact crater and are superposed on smooth plains deposits within the craters pit craters documented to date do not exhibit signs of extrusive flows impact craters hosting pit craters termed pit floor craters vary in size from 55 to 120 km in diameter while the associated pit craters range in maximum horizontal dimension from 20 to almost 40 km pit crater radius and host crater radius are not well correlated for pit floor craters on mercury in contrast to the situation for otherwise similar features on mars on the basis of morphology structural association relative age and proximity to smooth plains for pit craters on mercury we test mechanisms of pit crater formation previously proposed for such features on other planetary bodies e g earth moon mars and venus we conclude that pit craters on mercury formed through collapse into an underlying drained magma chamber pit floor craters thus provide evidence for near surface magmatic activity on mercury and extend the range of evidence for magmatism beyond such surface expressions as smooth plains and pyroclastic deposits

flow directions in dikes from anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility data the bootstrap way one of the first applications of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams was an attempt to determine flow directions from mafic dikes khan 1962 since the seminal work of knight and walker 1988 defining the expected behavior of ams in response to magma flow there has been increasing interest in using ams for this purpose here we present a quantitative method for interpretation of ams data from dikes using a parametric bootstrap first dikes must be sampled with at least five and preferrably more samples from within 10 cm of the dike margin the distributions of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the ams tensor are delineated by calculating eigenparameters of many bootstrapped paradata sets we generate paradata sets by first selecting a sample at random then calculating a replacement set of data by drawing tensor elements from normal distributions with the mean and standard deviation of the entire site the bounds containing 95 of the eigenparameters of the bootstrapped data serve as confidence limits for the parameter of interest classification of dikes proceeds as follows sites whose maximum and intermediate eigenvalues could not be distinguished are deemed uninterpretable in addition sites with principal eigenvectors with angles 45 away from the dike margin inverse or with markedly different directions on either side of the dike scissored are excluded the remaining dikes are classified as having unique flow direction information if the principal eigenvectors from at least one side are distinct from the dike plane based on the distribution of the bootstrapped principal eigenvectors if neither side has principal eigenvectors distinct from the dike plane the dikes are classified as having lineation information only a study comprising 251 dikes from the troodos ophiolite has 151 sites with directional data 38 sites with lineations only 7 inverse sites 5 scissored sites and 55 sites not fitting into any other category the flow directions interpreted from the data were generally southerly toward a fossil transform zone

continental scale salt tectonics on mars and the origin of valles marineris and associated outflow channels a synthesis of deformation patterns within and around the thaumasia plateau mars points to a new interpretation for regional deformation and the origin of valles marineris and associated outflow channels the morphology of the thaumasia plateau is typical of thin skinned deformation akin to a mega slide in which extensional deformation in syria planum and noctis labyrinthus connects via lateral zones of transtension and strike slip claritas fossae and valles marineris to a broad zone of compressional uplift and shortening defined by truncated craters and thrust faults along the coprates rise and thaumasia highlands however the low regional slope 1 results in gravitational body forces that are too small to deform the basaltic lava flows conventionally thought to compose the flanks of the tharsis volcanic province instead we conclude that geothermal heating and topographic loading of extensive buried deposits of salts and or mixtures of salts ice and basaltic debris would allow for weak detachments and large scale gravity spreading we propose that the generally linear chasmata of valles marineris reflect extension collapse and excavation along fractures radial to tharsis either forming or reactivated as part of one lateral margin of the thaumasia gravity spreading system the other dextral lateral margin is a massive splay of extensional faults forming the claritas fossae which resembles a trailing extensional imbricate fan the compressional mountain belt defined by the coprates rise and thaumasia highlands forms the toe of the mega slide topographic observations and previous structural analyses reveal evidence for a failed volcanic plume below syria planum that could have provided further thermal energy and topographic potential for initiating regional deformation either intrusively through inflation or extrusively through lava flow and or ash fall emplacement higher heat flow during noachian time or geothermal heating due to burial by tharsis derived volcanic rocks would have contributed to flow of salt deposits as well as formation of groundwater from melting ice and dewatering of hydrous salts we further propose that connection of overpressured groundwater from aquifers near the base of the detachment through the cryosphere to the martian surface created the outflow channels of echus coprates and juventae chasmata at relatively uniform source elevations along the northern margin of the mega slide where regional groundwater flow would have been directed toward the surface our hypothesis provides a unifying framework to explain perplexing relationships between the rise of the tharsis volcanic province deformation of the thaumasia plateau and the formation of valles marineris and associated outflow channels

thermal genesis of dissolution caves in the black hills south dakota jewel cave 118 km of mapped passages beneath an area of 2 7 km 2 and wind cave 70 km beneath 1 8 km 2 are respectively the fourth and tenth longest known cave systems and the world9s foremost examples of three dimensional rectilinear networks of solutional passages other caves in the black hills are similar they occur in 90 140 m of well bedded mississippian limestone and dolomite walls throughout jewel cave are lined with euhedral calcite spar as much as 15 cm thick wind cave displays lesser encrustations and remarkable calcite boxwork since 1938 opinion has favored cave excavation by slowly circulating meteoric waters in artesian confinement similar to that surrounding the black hills we believe that the caves were developed by regional thermal waters focusing on paleospring outlets in outlying sandstones four sets of criteria are evaluated 1 morphological the three dimensional one phase maze form having convectional features is similar to known and supposed thermal caves in europe 2 petrographic and mineralogical study of the chief precipitates shows a record of carbonate solution calcite precipitation consonant with a model of cooling then degassing waters 3 a thermal anomaly at regional hot springs is shown to extend beneath wind cave where basal lake water samples show chemical and isotopic affinities with the thermal waters and 4 13 c and 18 o measurements place all suspected paleothermal water precipitates in the domain of thermal calcites reported by others and being deposited at the modern hot springs finally u series dates show that the wind cave deposits are quaternary and that the cave is still draining jewel cave is truly relict and divorced from the modern thermal ground water system its great calcite spar sheets are probably older than 1 25 1 50 ma

three dimensional normal faulting models of the valles marineris mars and geodynamic implications inversion of martian topography using a three dimensional boundary element model permits revised estimates of fault dip angle depth of faulting paleogeothermal gradient and extensional strain in the valles marineris region the major normal faults dip at 40 55 to depths of 60 75 km with comparatively small footwall uplifts 500 m for throws to 10 km implying that paleogeothermal gradients during faulting were 10 k km 1 or less assuming relatively rapid strain rates appropriate to the extending martian crust accumulation of dip slip offsets along the main normal faults likely was associated with anticlinal flexure and deformation of preexisting strata within the troughs the magnitudes of the predicted vertical and horizontal displacements outside the troughs as well as extensional strains are spatially variable depending on both cross and along strike position relative to the troughs the predicted displacements and strains attain maximum values at the troughs and decay to background values at cross strike distances of 250 km corresponding to 3 4 times the depth of faulting with an average province wide strain of 4 15 by implication the aggregate strain field surrounding tharsis is a highly variable spatial and temporal composite of the inhomogeneous strain fields each associated and scaling in size with an individual graben from the smallest structures through the largest valles marineris troughs

salt tectonics and collapse of hebes chasma valles marineris mars a photogeologic and physical modeling study indicates that hebes chasma mars formed by collapse of the megaregolith local heating facilitated drainage of 10 5 km 3 of brines and entrained particulates through fractures in the chasma floor and into a regional aquifer a megaregolith rich in salts and water is implied by massive low gradient allochthonous flows that terminate in deep pits and troughs by emergent diapirs and by arching of hebes mensa these structures are consistent with plastic and viscous deformation but inconsistent with collapse of basalt flows and or tephra spectral measurements confirm that hydrated sulfate salts are spatially associated with allochthonous flows from depth and light toned deposits collapse features and flows are present in many other chasmata in valles marineris suggesting that widespread salt tectonics and dissolution may have shaped the region

new models for the origin of valles marineris closed depressions current models for the formation of the abundant large closed depressions of valles marineris have serious shortcomings purely tectonic mechanisms are inconsistent with the morphology of many depressions and removal of large quantities of ground ice from the canyon walls is inconsistent with the observed strength of the walls accordingly we offer some alternatives one possibility involves decay of ice rich bodies occupying partially sediment choked ancient graben that predated the overlying cratered and ridged plains other possibilities involve the removal of massive equatorial carbonate deposits storing much of the planet s co2 inventory generated during greenhouse conditions on early mars solution by carbonic acid derived from the atmosphere analogous to terrestrial karst requires extensive recycling of the available water supply solution by various groundwater acids possibly derived from the tharsis magmas requires less water especially if only the smaller closed depressions are due to carbonate decay alternatively volume loss due to decarbonation of carbonate during early high heat flow or a later tharsis related heat pulse can produce extensive collapse especially if the carbonates have high silica content

magma flow inferred from preferred orientations of plagioclase of the rio ceara mirim dyke swarm ne brazil and its ams significance

magmatic fabric acquisition mechanisms in a syenite results of a combined anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and image analysis study the structural significance of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams and acquisition mechanisms of silicate and ferrimagnetic mineral fabrics are investigated in the archean lebel syenite intrusion ontario canada bulk mineral subfabrics are determined by intercept counting of mineral phases in classified digital images of thin sections cut parallel to the principal planes of the magnetic fabric ellipsoids of the samples intensities shapes and principal direction orientations of the resulting intercept ellipsoids are generally similar to the corresponding ams ellipsoids differences are due mainly to bimodal distribution of mineral fabrics observed on foliation planes of some samples showing pre full crystallization textures and structural overprinting in samples deformed after crystallization subfabrics of clinopyroxene and magnetite in samples showing pre full crystallization microstructure are investigated by measuring inertia tensors of individual grain shapes the resulting inertia tensor ellipsoids indicate that magnetic fabrics in these rocks are strongly correlated to the shape preferred orientation of magnetite which is similar to the overall petrofabric of the samples crystal size distributions of clinopyroxene and magnetite indicate that they formed during in situ crystallization and that magnetite probably appeared late in the crystallization and flow history of the magma analysis of preferred orientations of these grains suggests that the petrofabrics of the samples were acquired during flow with strongly interacting grains analogous to a logjam in a river the final characteristics of the ams and silicate petrofabric are the end points of a continuous crystallization and flow history in the magma rather than transient late features

the formation of valles marineris 1 tectonic architecture and the relative roles of extension and subsidence 1 the formation of the valles marineris troughs on mars is widely held to involve some combination of horizontal extension and vertical subsidence or collapse but the specific tectonic mechanism is poorly understood this study uses boundary element models of valles marineris formation to evaluate a range of fault dip angles for two end member models of trough formation simple extensional tectonism and extension together with vertical accommodation at the base of the lithosphere representing either viscous lower crustal flow or some other form of deep seated collapse the models are constrained by the lack of footwall uplift on the plateau surface outside the troughs and the lack of significant tectonic failure of the plateau in response to the stress changes induced by valles marineris formation the results demonstrate that trough formation by extensional tectonism alone generates large surface uplifts in the surrounding plateau and enormous stresses in the lithosphere in conflict with the observations the only mechanism that is compatible with both the observed topography and the limitations imposed by the finite strength of the lithosphere is trough formation through displacement along steeply dipping to subvertical border faults together with vertical accommodation at the base of the subsiding fault block fault dips are constrained to be greater than or equal to 85 leading to a ratio of vertical subsidence to horizontal extension exceeding 5 7 and a maximum extension of less than 4 6 km these results confirm earlier studies suggesting that trough formation involved a substantial component of vertical subsidence or collapse with only modest amounts of total extension

multiple magmatic fabrics in the sazava pluton bohemian massif czech republic a result of superposition of wrench dominated regional transpression on final emplacement abstract the sazava pluton 354 ma of the central bohemian plutonic complex was emplaced syntectonically into the upper crustal neo proterozoic and lower paleozoic host rock along the se margin of the tepla barrandian zone bohemian massif czech republic the host rock is characterized by transpressional fabric dominated by steep se nw dipping foliations and subhorizontal ne sw stretching lineations associated with flattening to a plane strain ellipsoid the strain intensity degree of oblateness and temperature conditions of deformation increase in the host rock towards the pluton margin in the pluton quartz microfabric indicates progressive cooling of the syntectonically emplaced magma the ams method revealed multiple magmatic fabrics and lateral variations in the shapes of the ams ellipsoid and the magnetic fabric intensity in the pluton the central part of the pluton yields prolate shapes of the ams ellipsoid and a low degree of anisotropy with preserved steep magnetic lineations whereas along the pluton margins oblate ams ellipsoids are associated with a high degree of anisotropy we interpret the multiple fabrics and the partially decoupled fabric pattern between the host rock and the pluton as being a result of superposition of regional tectonic strain during highly oblique transpression on emplacement related intrusive strain where outer solidified and more rigid edges of the pluton enabled preservation of older steep fabrics in its interior

the relation between magnetite and silicate fabric in granitoids of the adamello batholith abstract the link between the macroscopic silicate fabric and the magnetite controlled ams anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility fabric in ferromagnetic rocks was investigated through a comprehensive comparison between different fabric measurement techniques sample lithologies include tonalites and granodiorites from the lago della vacca complex adamello batholith italy the datasets used to assess the link between subfabrics and the coherence between methods include 1 macroscopic silicate fabric measured directly in the field 2 macroscopic silicate fabric derived from image analysis ia of outcrop pictures and sample pictures 3 shape preferred orientations spo of mafic silicates 4 spo of magnetite and 5 calculated distribution of magnetite grains from computer assisted high resolution x ray tomography x ray ct images 6 fabrics derived from the ams macroscopic mineral fabrics measured in the field agree with the ia results and with the spo of mafic silicates obtained from the x ray ct imaging the x ray ct results show that the spo of the magnetite grains are consistent with the ams data whereas the spatial distribution of the magnetite grains is less compatible with the ams fabric this implies that the ams signal is mainly controlled by the shape of the magnetic carrier mineral rather than by the spatial arrangement of the magnetite grains an exception is the presence of magnetite clusters furthermore the spo of mafic silicates and the spo of the magnetite grains are consistent with the ams data another finding of this study is that the magnetic susceptibility correlates linearly with the amount of magnetite in the samples the coherent results obtained from a variety of methods reinforce the application of both ams measurements and ia as robust tools to analyse fabrics in granitic intrusions

sublacustrine depositional fans in southwest melas chasma two depositional fan complexes have been identified on the floor of southwest melas chasma the western fan complex is located near the center of an enclosed basin in southwest melas chasma and is composed of multiple lobes with dendritic finger like terminations these fans are very flat and have a morphology unlike any other fan that has been previously identified on mars on the basis of the morphologic similarity of the western fan complex to the mississippi submarine fan complex we suggest that it may be a deep subaqueous fan depositional system there are numerous channels on the surface of the western fan complex and measurements of channel length width and sinuosity are consistent with channels observed on terrestrial submarine fans the eastern melas depositional fans are less well preserved and may be of deltaic or sublacustrine origin recognition of the fans supports earlier suggestions for the presence of a former lake in melas chasma and indicates that a significant body of water was present and stable at the surface of mars for at least 10 2 to 10 4 years

topography of valles marineris implications for erosional and structural history compilation of a simplified geologic geomorphic map onto digital terrain models of the valles marineris permitted an evaluation of elevations in the vicinity of the troughs and the calculation of depth of troughs below surrounding plateaus thickness of deposits inside the troughs volumes of void spaces above geologic geomorphic units and volumes of deposits the central troughs north ophir north and central candor and north melas chasmata lie as much as 11 km below the adjacent plateaus in ophir and candor chasmata interior layered deposits reach 8 km in elevation if the deposits are lacustrine and if all troughs were interconnected lake waters standing 8 km high would have spilled out of coprates chasma onto the surrounding plateaus having surface elevations of only 4 5 km in this case interior deposits above about 4 km in the central troughs would not be lacustrine they could be volcanic on the other hand the troughs may not have been interconnected at the time of interior deposit emplacement they may have formed isolated ancestral basins the existence of such basins is supported by independent structural and stratigraphic evidence the ancestral basins may have eventually merged perhaps through renewed faulting to form northern subsidiary troughs in ophir and candor chasmata and the coprates north melas ius graben system the peripheral troughs are only 2 5 km deep shallower than the central troughs they may have formed from a combination of erosional collapse and structural activity chaotic terrain is seen in the peripheral troughs near a common contour level of about 4 km on the adjacent plateaus which supports the idea of release of water under artesian pressure from confined aquifers the layered deposits in the peripheral troughs may have formed in isolated depressions that harbored lakes and predated the formation of the deep outflow channels if these layered deposits are of volcanic origin they may have been emplaced beneath ice in the manner of table mountains areal and volumetric computations show that erosion widened the troughs by about one third and that deposits occupy one sixth of the interior space even though the volume eroded is larger than the volume deposited topographic and geologic considerations imply that material eroded from trough walls was probably part of the interior layered deposits but not their sole source additional material may have come from subterranean piping from reworking of local disintegration products on the floors such as chaotic materials or from eolian influx but overall it is likely that the additional material is volcanic and that it forms mostly the upper more diversely bedded layers of the interior deposits

thin skinned deformation of sedimentary rocks in valles marineris mars deformation of sedimentary rocks is widespread within valles marineris characterized by both plastic and brittle deformation identified in candor melas and ius chasmata we identified four deformation styles using hirise and ctx images kilometer scale convolute folds detached slabs folded strata and pull apart structures convolute folds are detached rounded slabs of material with alternating dark and light toned strata and a fold wavelength of about 1 km the detached slabs are isolated rounded blocks of material but they exhibit only highly localized evidence of stratification folded strata are composed of continuously folded layers that are not detached pull apart structures are composed of stratified rock that has broken off into small irregularly shaped pieces showing evidence of brittle deformation some areas exhibit multiple styles of deformation and grade from one type of deformation into another the deformed rocks are observed over thousands of kilometers are limited to discrete stratigraphic intervals and occur over a wide range in elevations all deformation styles appear to be of likely thin skinned origin crism reflectance spectra show that some of the deformed sediments contain a component of monohydrated and polyhydrated sulfates several mechanisms could be responsible for the deformation of sedimentary rocks in valles marineris such as subaerial or subaqueous gravitational slumping or sliding and soft sediment deformation where the latter could include impact induced or seismically induced liquefaction these mechanisms are evaluated based on their expected pattern scale and areal extent of deformation deformation produced from slow subaerial or subaqueous landsliding and liquefaction is consistent with the deformation observed in valles marineris

related magma ice interactions possible origins of chasmata chaos and surface materials in xanthe margaritifer and meridiani terrae mars abstract we examine here the close spatial and temporal associations among several unique features of xanthe and margaritifer terrae specifically the valles marineris troughs or chasmata and their interior deposits chaotic terrain the circum chryse outflow channels and the subdued cratered material that covers xanthe margaritifer and meridiani terrae though previous hypotheses have attempted to explain the origin of individual features or subsets of these we suggest that they may all be related all of these features taken together present a consistent scenario that includes the processes of sub ice volcanism and other magma ice interactions results of intrusive events during late noachian to early amazonian times

new martian paradigms several interrelated paradigms concerning the nature and the evolution of mars are discussed these include an impact origin of the northern lowland mars as a water rich planet former oceans in the northern lowlands a warm wet climate on early mars and the possibility of ancient life on mars locations on mars suggested for the search of possible ancient life include the heavily cratered terrain dissected by valley networks possible lacustrine deposits in valles marineris the oxidizing layer below the surface sites along the fringes of the hypothetical northern circumpolar ocean and in evaporite deposits

process of magnetite fabric development during granite deformation this study evaluates the fabric defined by magnetite grains in a syntectonically deformed granite and deciphers the processes that led to magnetite fabric development anisotropy of anhysteretic re

amazonian volcanism inside valles marineris on mars the giant trough system of valles marineris is one of the most spectacular landforms on mars yet its origin is still unclear although often referred to as a rift it also shows some characteristics that are indicative of collapse processes for decades one of the major open questions was whether volcanism was active inside the valles marineris here we present evidence for a volcanic field on the floor of the deepest trough of valles marineris coprates chasma more than 130 individual edifices resemble scoria and tuff cones and are associated with units that are interpreted as lava flows crater counts indicate that the volcanic field was emplaced sometime between 0 4 ga and 0 2 ga the spatial distribution of the cones displays a control by trough parallel subsurface structures suggesting magma ascent in feeder dikes along trough bounding normal faults spectral data reveal an opaline silica rich unit associated with at least one of the cones indicative of hydrothermal processes our results point to magma water interaction an environment of astrobiological interest perhaps associated with late stage activity in the evolution of valles marineris and suggest that the floor of coprates chasma is promising target for the in situ exploration of mars

structural development of coprates chasma and western ophir planum valles marineris rift mars a portion of valles marineris was mapped in detail in order to clarify the dominant processes responsible for the formation of coprates chasma new crater counts indicate that the caprock on western ophir planum plateau has a late hesperian crater age whereas trough floor preserved in western coprates chasma has an early to late hesperian crater age caprock on western ophir planum correlates in relative age with the syria planum formation and the caprock may overlie lower hesperian ridged plains material the conspicuous absence of wrinkle ridges on ophir planum may reflect burial by this later material trough floor material in coprates chasma correlates in relative age with ridged plains material on the adjacent lunae planum and coprates plateaus and represents a structurally coherent block displaced downward by normal faulting the crater counts and detailed structural relationships demonstrate the commonly accepted view that coprates chasma occupies a graben the floor of this graben is only thinly mantled by intratrough deposits and is relatively intact the trough shows no evidence for a chaotically broken and jumbled floor as required by genesis models of collapse and subsurface drainage formation of coprates chasma by keystone collapse of locally elevated topography is not supported by available topographic data but a general association between the trough and volcanotectonic activity in the tharsis region is considered to be a likely explanation for the trough forming stresses subtle asymmetries in topography and boundary fault development across coprates chasma may imply a gentle down to the north half graben geometry for the trough normal faults that define the northern margin of western coprates chasma and those that deform the adjacent ophir planum plateau change trend systematically with position implying a 30 rotation of the local horizontal principal stresses in this region during trough growth faulting on ophir planum appears related to the faulting that created the coprates chasma trough the geology and structure of coprates chasma are comparable to those of other troughs such as melas ius and perhaps candor chasmata suggesting that these troughs may also have formed as grabens the revised crater age for western ophir planum indicates that the initiation of trough faulting and subsidence in the valles marineris system is early late hesperian and may have been synchronous across the system relative to the prevailing cratering rate

are there carbonate deposits in the valles marineris mars the thick sequences of layered deposits found in the valles marineris have recently been determined by s s nedell s w squyres and d w andersen 1987 icarus 70 409 441 to contain a minimum of 105 km3 of material we suggest that this material could be derived from the precipitation of 30 mbar of atmospheric co2 as carbonates in lakes as surface temperatures fell on mars the presence of an insulating ice cover would have allowed liquid water to exist fed by transitory surface melting atmospheric co2 would have accumulated in such lakes enhancing carbonate precipitation support for this hypothesis comes from processes that occur in the perennially frozen lakes in the dry valleys of antarctica where the mean temperature is 253 k and the lake water is supersaturated with atmospheric gases a search of the recently reissued mariner 6 7 infrared spectrometer data in the wavelength region between 2 and 6 m failed to confirm the presence of carbonates due to the fact that no spectral footprints appear to directly overlie the layered deposits and that deposits may be blanketed by an eolian mantle this negative result is inconclusive we feel that the canyon deposits are still a prime site for future searches for carbonates on mars

a unified nomenclature for tectonic structures on the surface of enceladus abstract enceladus has experienced widespread and diverse tectonic deformation the diversity and nonuniform distribution of structures visible on the surface attests to a complicated and perhaps long lived tectonic history currently no fundamental classification scheme based on morphology exists for the tectonic structures on enceladus which limits analysis and discussion of tectonic structures and regional and global tectonic histories characterization and classification of structures on enceladus is an important first step in understanding its tectonic history here we propose a global morphologic i e nongenetic classification scheme for tectonic structures on enceladus five classes of tectonic structures on enceladus have been identified based on images and limited topographic data troughs scarps chasmata ridges and bands morphological variation of structures exists within these classes reinforcing the complicated tectonic history of this small body

fabric of the rio ceara mirim mafic dike swarm northeastern brazil determined by anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and image analysis 1 anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams and petrofabric studies of the early cretaceous rio ceara mirim dike swarm reveal that shape preferred orientation of opaque grains controls the magnetic fabric the 350 km long swarm is characterized by relatively thick dikes of the order of 20 m up to 150 m in width the strong magnetic susceptibility of these rocks around 5 10 2 si is attributed to magnetite with low ti content the magnetite usually forms euhedral to subhedral equant to skeletal grains the resulting ams has a large proportion of abnormal fabric types as observed in 58 of the 50 dikes studied the remaining 42 of the dikes show a normal fabric regionally characterized by steep magnetic foliations and subhorizontal lineations in the central eastern part of the swarm however the lineation plunges downdip suggesting a magmatic feeder zone the shape alignment of the plagioclase supports the inferred regional flow pattern indicating a primary origin for the normal ams inverse to highly imbricate magnetic fabrics have lineations perpendicular to or at a high angle to the dike wall a shape lineation of opaque grains lies generally close to the magnetic lineation while the foliation is provided by the oblate shaped plagioclase fabric petrofabric studies indicate that the abnormal magnetic fabric is unrelated to flow competition of interstitial magnetite grains crystallizing either along as well as perpendicular to the magma stretching direction seems to account for the weak magnetic anisotropy and the irregular distribution of the ams types on the swarm

carbonates and martian climate the case for global climate change on mars is neither ambiguous nor arguable cold dry and dusty right now the surface of mars shows ancient fluvial valley networks catastrophic flood channels sediment filled basins and many other features that require stable liquid water at the planet s surface such observations from orbit 1 imply that ancient mars was substantially warmer than it is today the favored scenario to heat up a young mars is greenhouse warming driven by a thick primitive co2 rich atmosphere of the kind thought common to all the terrestrial planets 2 clearly the greenhouse phase didn t last long for mars as a result almost every model for martian climate history includes an appreciable drawdown of co2 by precipitation of carbonates however only a small fraction of the carbonates predicted by this theory have been detected on page 421 of this issue morris et al 3 report the detection of ample carbonates dispersed within the subsurface thereby strengthening arguments that co2 played a major role in the early martian climate system

when an inverse fabric is not inverse an integrated ams spo study in morb like dykes terra nova 23 49 55 2011 abstract magma flow direction is recorded in the macroscopic mineral petrofabric and magnetic fabric of the morb like rooi rand dyke swarm the bulk magnetic fabric is sub parallel to the dyke plane resulting from preferred orientation of grains during magma flow this is referred to as type a fabric a study of mineral shape preferred orientation reveals an additional fabric which is orthogonal to the average dyke orientation in 30 of the data this fabric is carried by both plagioclase and opaque grains and would typically be interpreted as inverse it is referred to here as type b fabric however because it is carried by the shape preferred orientation of macroscopic grains and is in most cases not coaxial to the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility fabric it is interpreted as having been acquired during increased grain interaction during late stage magma flow associated with decreasing magma pressure

underlying structural control of small scale faults and fractures in west candor chasma mars 1 orientations of small scale faults and fractures within the interior layered deposits of west candor chasma were measured to investigate what information about the geologic history of valles marineris they can contribute deformational features were separated into six categories based on morphology and their orientations were analyzed the elevations at which the deformational features formed are recorded as a proxy for stratigraphic level deformational features occur over a continuous range of elevations and display regionally consistent preferred orientations indicating their formation was controlled by a regional stress regime the two most abundant preferred orientations of 35 and 110 are approximately parallel to the chasma walls and the inferred underlying normal faults the alignment of three populations of small faults at 140 consistent with the morphology of release faults indicates a large scale fault underlying the southeastern border of ceti mensa the preferred orientations imply these small scale deformational features formed from a continuation of the same imposed stresses responsible for the formation of valles marineris indicating these stresses existed past the formation of the interior layered deposits the origins of a fourth preferred orientation of 70 is less clear but suggests the study area has undergone at least two periods of deformation

geochemical evolution of the northern plains of mars early hydrosphere carbonate development and present morphology it is likely that early in mars history abundant liquid water was available under a thick several bars carbon dioxide atmosphere this water could have formed an ocean located primarily in the lowlands of the northern hemisphere an equilibrium geochemical model of this ocean and its interactions with the atmosphere and regolith of mars was developed and the results of this model were used to discuss the evolution of the volatile budget of mars including the deposition of large carbonate beds on the northern plains differential solutional weathering of these carbonate beds may have caused the formation of some of the enigmatic features seen on the northern plains of mars such as the thumbprint terrain and enclosed depressions

valles marineris mars wet debris flows and ground ice abstract detailed study of the valles marineris equatorial troughs suggests that the landslides in that area contained water and probably were gigantic wet debris flows one landslide complex generated a channel that has several bends and extends for 250 km further support for water or ice in debris masses includes rounded flow lobes and transport of some slide masses in the direction of the local topographic slope differences in speed and emplacement efficiency between martian and terrestrial landslides can be attributed to the entrainment of volatiles on mars but they can also be explained by other mechanisms support that the wall rock contained water comes from the following observations 1 the water within the landslide debris must have been derived from wall rock 2 debris appears to have been transported through tributary canyons 3 locally channels emerged from the canyons 4 the wall rock apprarently disintegrated and flowed easily and 5 fault zones within the troughs are unusually resistant to erosion the study further suggests that in the equatorial region of mars material below depths of 400 800 m was not desiccated during the time of landslide activity within the last billion years of martian history therefore the martian ground water or groundice reservoir if not a relic from ancient times must have been replenished

the formation of valles marineris 2 stress focusing along the buried dichotomy boundary 1 although valles marineris is widely regarded as an extensional tectonic feature the source of stress responsible for its formation remains unknown this study argues that the tensile stresses that triggered valles marineris tectonism are a result of its location south of and subparallel to the buried crustal dichotomy boundary beneath tharsis the emplacement of the tharsis volcanic load straddling the pre existing topographic step of the crustal dichotomy boundary would have resulted in an abrupt change in the thickness of the load causing differential subsidence and extension across the boundary thin shell flexural models predict a narrow belt of focused tensile stresses south of the buried dichotomy boundary coinciding with the location of present day valles marineris the interaction of these boundary generated stresses with the competing stress fields associated with tharsis loading can explain the formation of noctis labyrinthus in the west and the deflection of the valles marineris troughs away from the buried boundary toward the east finite element models demonstrate that the magnitudes and vertical variations of stress at valles marineris are sensitive to the timing of loading and flexure in tharsis the incremental loading and flexure expected for a large volcanic rise results in the maximum tensile stress at valles marineris occurring at depth with tensile stresses through the majority of the lithospheric column dikes forming within this tensile stress belt would propagate through the full vertical extent of the lithosphere due to the stress release associated with the dilation of the dikes playing a crucial role in the formation of the valles marineris troughs

evaporite karst in three interior layered deposits in iani chaos mars abstract this paper describe the karst landforms observed in three interior layered deposits located in iani chaos a large depression located in the equatorial region of mars characterised by spectral signatures of monohydrated and polyhydrated sulfate such as kieserite and gypsum a morphological and morphometric survey of the ild surface morphologies through an integrated analysis of the available mars reconnaissance orbiter mro high resolution imaging science experiment hirise highlighted the presence of depressions of various shapes and sizes these martian landforms interpreted as doline of polygenetic origin resemble similarly karst landforms that can be observed both in different karst terrains on earth and in other regions of mars the karst landforms observed suggest a climatic change and the presence of liquid water probably due to ice melting in the late amazonian age

magnetic fabric vs magnetite and biotite shape fabrics of the magnetite bearing granite pluton of gameleiras northeast brazil abstract a well defined orientation pattern has been evidenced by the magnetic fabric lineation and foliation of the granite pluton of gameleiras northeast brazil this magnetic fabric is roughly parallel to the magmatic fabric defined by the elongate mafic enclaves and by the planar arrangement of tabular k feldspar phenocrysts low field anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility properties as well as magnetic mineralogy studies and optical microscopy observations indicate that multidomian iron rich magnetite is the main carrier of the magnetic susceptibility and its anisotropy to examine in more detail the relationships between the magnetic and magmatic fabrics measurements of two dimensional shape fabrics of grain populations of biotite and magnetite have been carried out on a total of 500 grains using an automatic shape fabric analysis procedure on carefully selected and oriented thin sections angular departure has been calculated between the maximum elongation of the mineral shape fabric of the given grain population and the maximum susceptibility axis of the corresponding macroscopic specimen we found that the fabric of biotite correlates strongly with the magnetic fabric 7 8 the fabric of magnetite although not as well defined mainly because of its weak shape anisotropy still correlates with the magnetic fabric 12 18 origin of low field magnetic fabric in the pluton of gameleiras is concluded to be controlled principally by the statistical alignment of the long axes of inequant magnetite grains magnetic interactions between the grains of magnetite where they form clusters may account for the observed scattering or abnormal magnitudes of the magnetic anisotropy concerning the orientation of the magnetic fabric as the long dimensions of the magnetites preferentially align with the boundaries of the other minerals particularly biotite and titanite the magnetic fabric as defined by the grains of magnetite is concluded to approximate closely the magmatic fabric defined by the shape fabric of biotite however as no correlation exists between shapes or clustering of magnetites and strain undergone by the deforming magma the strength of the magnetic fabric in ferromagnetic granites cannot be used in a simple way as a measure of strain intensity

light toned layered deposits in juventae chasma mars abstract we examine hypotheses for the formation of light toned layered deposits in juventae chasma using a combination of data from mars global surveyor s mars orbiter camera moc mars orbiter laser altimeter mola and thermal emission spectrometer tes as well as mars odyssey s thermal emission imaging system themis we divide juventae chasma into geomorphic units of i chasm wall rock ii heavily cratered hummocky terrain iii a mobile and largely crater free sand sheet on the chasm floor iv light toned layered outcrop llo material and v chaotic terrain using surface temperatures derived from themis infrared data and slopes from mola we derive maps of thermal inertia which are consistent with the geomorphic units that we identify llo thermal inertias range from 400 to 850 j m 2 k 1 s 1 2 light toned layered outcrops are distributed over a remarkably wide elevation range 5 8 km from the chasm floor to the adjacent plateau surface geomorphic features the absence of small craters and high thermal inertia show that the llos are composed of sedimentary rock that is eroding relatively rapidly in the present epoch we also present evidence for exhumation of llo material from the west wall of the chasm within chaotic and hummocky terrains and within a small depression in the adjacent plateau the data imply that at least some of the llo material was deposited long before the adjacent hesperian plateau basalts and that juventae chasma underwent and may still be undergoing enlargement along its west wall due to wall rock collapse chaotic terrain evolution and exposure and removal of llo material the new data allow us to reassess possible origins of the llos gypsum one of the minerals reported elsewhere as found in juventae chasma llo material forms only at low temperatures 60 c and thus excludes a volcanic origin instead the data are consistent with either multiple occurrences of lacustrine or airfall deposition over an extended period of time prior to emplacement of hesperian lava flows on the plateau above the chasm

overprinting of magnetic fabrics in granites by small strains numerical modelling abstract the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams is used to determine weakly defined mineral preferred orientation fabrics in granites however the effects of small strains superimposed on the low intensity ams fabrics typical of these rocks is not well understood numerical simulations are presented which investigate the effects of small superimposed strains on the shapes magnitudes and orientations of pre existing ams fabrics which are similar to those reported in the literature for undeformed granites a computer generated biotite petrofabric is subjected to progressive strain using march s strain response model for pure shear plane strain axially symmetric shortening and simple shear regimes results indicate that a pre existing ams fabric might be significantly modified or overprinted by small strains 10 15 strain in the pure shear and axially symmetric shortening regimes 0 5 1 0 for simple shear a new ams fabric may develop with an orientation similar to that expected for shearing of an initially isotropic petrofabric at low strains the evolution of the shape of the ams ellipsoid depends strongly on the orientation of the initial petrofabric with respect to the strain framework the ams ellipsoid may evolve towards either oblate or prolate shapes and the evolution in the ellipsoid shape may be reversed during progressive strain this modelling suggests that small strains affecting a pluton following its emplacement could mask ams fabrics developed earlier the results also suggest that in simple shear the orientation of the ams ellipsoid may serve as a shear sense indicator for small strains even if the earlier fabric is not isotropic

mars regolith versus snc meteorites possible evidence for abundant crustal carbonates abstract viking xrf analyses of the martian regolith are compared with typical igneous rocks of the earth the moon the eucrite parent asteroid and especially the shergottites nakhlites and chassigny snc meteorites which are suspected to be basalts and mafic cumulates from mars a striking feature of the martian regolith compared to igneous rocks with similar molar mg fe si ratios is its extraordinarily low ca si ratio the regolith s low ca si ratio is probably not a result of simple mixing isochemical weathering of snc like rocks with other igneous rocks unless the regolith contains a large component of rock with an improbable combination of extremely low ca si and mg fe si and yet low k 2 o and zr several other models might conceivably account for the low ca si ratio but i suggest that most of the missing ca was removed from the regolith as ca carbonate formation of a mass of carbonate equivalent to a global shell 20 m thick would suffice to remove 1000 mbar of co 2 from the martian atmosphere thus the peculiar ca si ratio of the martian regolith tends to support the hypothesis that the climate of mars was once far warmer and wetter than it is today

viscosity of rock ice mixtures and applications to the evolution of icy satellites theory and experiments are used to establish lower and upper bounds on the ratio of actual viscosity to pure ice viscosity for a suspension of rock particles in a water ice matrix for typical conditions encountered in icy satellites this ratio is of order ten or possibly larger depending on unknown factors such as the particle size distribution it is shown that even this modest increase in viscosity may be enough to have caused a failure of solid state convective self regulation early in the evolution of a homogeneous rock water ice satellite provided the satellite is large enough and sufficiently silicate rich the criteria for this failure are satisfied by ganymede and are marginal for callisto if the silicates are hydrated failure of self regulation means that the viscosity is too high for the interior to remain completely solid and eliminate the heat production of long lived radioisotopes by solid state convection partial melting of the ice then occurs it is further shown that satellites of this size may then undergo runaway differentiation into a rock core and almost pure ice mantle because the gravitational energy release is sufficient to melt nearly all the ice and the rayleigh taylor instability time scale is short although the high pressure phases of ice melt the resulting water quickly refreezes at a higher level it is conjectured that these results explain the striking surface dissimilarity of ganymede and callisto if these satellites accreted cold and undifferentiated ganymede may have gone supercritical melted and differentiated because of a failure of self regulation whereas callisto remained undifferentiated to the present day like all proposed explanations for the ganymede callisto dichotomy this conjecture cannot be quantified with confidence because of inadequate or incomplete observations theory and experimental data

morphology and geology of the ild in capri eos chasma mars from visible and infrared data abstract layered deposits have been observed in different locations at the surface of mars as crater floors and canyons systems their high interest relies in the fact they imply dynamical conditions in their deposition medium indeed in opposition to most of the rocks of the martian surface which have a volcanic origin bright layered deposits seems to be sedimentary outcrops capri chasma a canyon located at the outlet of valles marineris exhibits such deposits called interior layered deposits ild a large array of visible and infrared spacecraft data were used to build a geographic information system gis we added hirise images from the recent mro mission which offer a spatial resolution of 25 cm per pixel it allowed the mapping and the analysis of morphologies in the canyon we highlighted that the ild are several kilometers thick and flat top stratified deposits they overlap the chaotic floor they are surrounded and cut by several flow features that imply that liquid water was still acting after the formation of these stratified deposits the density of crater on the floor of capri chasma was quantified the current topography was aged to 3 gyr all these morphological information allow us to suggest a plausible geological history for capri chasma we propose that the interior layered deposits have formed during the hesperian during or after the opening of the canyon some observations argue that water discharges have happened at several times before and just after the formation of the ild liquid water must have played a major role in the formation of these deposits after 3 5 gyr implying that it was present in surface at least locally and temporarily if this can be applied to ild in others canyons of valles marineris it would imply that liquid water was stable in surface or sub surface during the hesperian or in the actual conditions with a cold and dry martian surface long term standing water bodies are not possible thus we suggest that either the climate at the hesperian was cold but wetter or as warm as the noachian climate what is less likely nevertheless the global climate change which has occurred at the beginning of mars history may have been later than announced

global distribution and migration of subsurface ice on mars a thermal diffusive model of h2o kinetics and equilibrium was developed to investigate the long term evolution and depth distribution of subsurface ice on mars the model quantitatively takes into account 1 obliquity variations 2 eccentricity variations 3 long term changes in the solar luminosity 4 variations in the argument of subsolar meridian in planetocentric equatorial coordinates 5 albedo changes at higher latitudes due to seasonal phase changes of co2 and the varying extent of co2 ice cover 6 planetary internal heat flow 7 temperature variations in the regolith as a function of depth time and latitude due to the above factors 8 atmospheric pressure variations over a 104 year time scale 9 the effects of factors 1 through 5 on seasonal polar cap temperatures and 10 knudsen and molecular diffusion of h2o through the regolith the migration of h2o into or out of the regolith is determined by two boundary conditions the h2o vapor pressure at the subsurface ice boundary and the annual average h2o concentration at the base of the atmosphere these are controlled respectively by the annual average regolith temperature at the given depth and seasonal temperatures at the polar cap starting from an arbitrary initial uniform depth distribution of subsurface ice h2o fluxes into or out of the regolith are calculated for 100 selected obliquity cycles each representing a different epoch in mars history the h2o fluxes are translated into ice thicknesses and extrapolated over time to give the subsurface ice depth as a function of latitude and time the results show that obliquity variations influence annual average regolith temperatures in varying degrees depending on latitude with the greatest effect at the poles and almost no effect at 40 lat insolation changes at the pole due to obliquity argument of subsolar meridian and eccentricity variations can produce enormous atmospheric h2o concentration variations of 6 orders of magnitude over an obliquity cycle superimposed on these cyclic variations is a slow monotonic change due to the increasing solar luminosity albedo changes at the polar cap due to seasonal phase changes of co2 and the varying thickness of the co2 ice cover are critically important in determining annual average atmospheric h2o concentrations despite the strongly oscillating character of the boundary conditions only small amounts of h2o are exchanged between the regolith and the atmosphere per obliquity cycle 10 g cm2 the net result of h2o migration is that the regolith below 30 40 lat is depleted of subsurface ice while the regolith above 30 40 lat contains permanent ice due to the depth of penetration of the annual thermal wave this result is supported by recent morphological studies the rate of migration of h2o is strongly dependent on average pore capillary radius for which we have assumed values of 1 and 10 m we estimate that the h2o ice removed from the regolith would produce a permanent ice cap with a volume between 2 106 and 6 106 km3 this generally agrees with estimates deduced from deflationary features at lower latitudes depositional features at higher latitudes and the mass of the polar caps

evidence for rapid thinning of sea ice in the western arctic ocean at the end of the 1980s examination of springtime ice drafts obtained from submarine profiles in a narrow band of the western arctic ocean from offshore alaska to 89 n indicates that the mean ice draft decreased 1 5 m between the mid 1980s and early 1990s no similar trend was evident in ice drafts near the north pole the 1980s drafts were composed largely of ice exceeding 3 5 m while the early 1990s drafts contained more ice in thinner categories the differences in drafts between the two periods appear to be related largely to ice dynamics effects associated with the presence and strength of the beaufort gyre which weakened considerably in the early 1990s

sub annual moraine formation at an active temperate icelandic glacier this paper presents detailed geomorphological and sedimentological investigations of small recessional moraines at fjallsjokull an active temperate outlet of oraefajokull southeast iceland the moraines are characterised by striking sawtooth or hairpin planforms which are locally superimposed giving rise to a complex spatial pattern we recognise two distinct populations of moraines namely a group of relatively prominent moraine ridges mean height 1 2 m and a group of comparatively low relief moraines mean height 0 4 m these two groups often occur in sets systems comprising one pronounced outer ridge and several inset smaller moraines using a representative subsample of the moraines we establish that they form by either i submarginal deformation and squeezing of subglacial till or ii pushing of extruded tills locally proglacial glaciofluvial sediments are also incorporated within the moraines during pushing for the first time to our knowledge we demonstrate categorically that these moraines formed sub annually using repeat uncrewed aerial vehicle uav imagery we present a conceptual model for sub annual moraine formation at fjallsjokull that proposes the sawtooth moraine sequence comprises i sets of small squeeze moraines formed during melt driven squeeze events and ii larger push moraines formed during winter re advances we suggest the development of this process form regime is linked to a combination of elevated temperatures high surface meltwater fluxes to the bed and emerging basal topography a depositional overdeepening these factors result in highly saturated subglacial sediments and high porewater pressures which induces submarginal deformation and ice marginal squeezing during the melt season strong glacier recession during the summer driven by elevated temperatures allows several squeeze moraines to be emplaced this process form regime may be characteristic of active temperate glaciers receding into overdeepenings during phases of elevated temperatures especially where their englacial drainage systems allow efficient transfer of surface meltwater to the glacier bed near the snout margin

atypical pit craters on mars new insights from themis ctx and hirise observations more than 100 pit craters in the tharsis region of mars exhibit morphologies diameters and thermal behaviors that diverge from the much larger bowl shaped pit craters that occur in most regions across mars these atypical pit craters apcs generally have sharp and distinct rims vertical or overhanging walls that extend down to their floors surface diameters of 50 350 m and high depth to diameter d d ratios that are usually greater than 0 3 which is an upper range value for impacts and bowl shaped pit craters and can exceed values of 1 8 observations by the mars odyssey thermal emission imaging system themis show that apc floor temperatures are warmer at night and fluctuate with much lower diurnal amplitudes than nearby surfaces or adjacent bowl shaped pit craters k lauea volcano hawai i hosts pit craters that formed through subsurface collapse into active volcanic dikes resulting in pits that can appear morphologically analogous to either apcs or bowl shaped pit craters partially drained dikes are sometimes exposed within the lower walls and floors of these terrestrial apc analogs and can form extensive cave systems with unique microclimates similar caves in martian pit craters are of great interest for astrobiology this study uses new observations by the mars reconnaissance orbiter high resolution imaging science experiment hirise and context camera to refine previous work where seven apcs were described from lower resolution themis visible wavelength observations here we identify locations of 115 apcs map their distribution across the tharsis region characterize their internal morphologies with high resolution observations and discuss possible formation mechanisms

geology of the melas chasma landing site for the mars exploration rover mission 1 the melas chasma landing site was considered a high priority site for the mars exploration rover mer mission because of the opportunity to land on and study potential layered sedimentary deposits though no longer considered a candidate site because of safety concerns the site remains a scientifically interesting area that provides insight into the geologic history of valles marineris within the landing ellipse are dunes landslide material and unusual blocky deposits the blocky deposits are composed of rounded blocks some of which have meter scale layering and they show evidence of ductile deformation including bending and distortion of coherent blocks around each other the morphologic characteristics of the blocks are unique and they appear to have no terrestrial analogue however the gross morphology of these blocky deposits and their superposition on adjacent wallrock is consistent with the blocks having been transported downslope given the existence of other large mass failures in the area we propose the blocky deposits may also have originated from mass movement events the size of the blocks coupled with the distances they traveled indicates high mobility the distances the blocks were transported and their rounded irregular shapes suggest either water in the source material or deposition in a subaqueous environment the source for the main blocky deposit inside the landing ellipse is considered to be the wallrock to the south while the other two blocky deposits have source regions along the northern canyon walls the southern wallrock of melas chasma contains numerous valleys not seen elsewhere in valles marineris the identification of valley networks along the southern wallrock suggests that a source of water existed below the surface of the plateau and produced the valleys after intersecting the edge of the exposed canyon walls

thermal history of the pan african brasiliano borborema province of northeast brazil deduced from 40ar 39ar analysis abstract detailed step heating 40 ar 39 ar analyses were performed on different minerals from magmatic and metamorphic rocks of the borborema province this region located in northeast brazil belongs to the pan african brasiliano belt which is about 1000 km wide and 600 km long twenty six single grains of amphibole muscovite and biotite were extracted from eighteen samples selected in an area of about 17 500 km 2 250 km by 70 km in the patos region this region has been affected by a continental scale shear zone system well defined 40 ar 39 ar plateau ages and an u pb analysis on zircon leterrier j jardim de sa e f bertrand j m and pin c 1994 ages u pb sur zircon de granitoides brasilianos de la ceinture du serido province borborema ne bresil c r acad sci paris 318 1505 1511 allow the definition of a homogeneous and unusual slow cooling history 3 4 c ma and suggest a rather slow uplift rate between 580 and 500 ma followed by a fast cooling of the whole studied area around 500 ma rapid cooling is suggested by concordant plateau ages on muscovite and biotite the existence of such an event at the end of the belt history is in agreement with data obtained on other major belts such as the alpine himalayan system or the hercynian belt

control of impact crater fracture systems on subsurface hydrology ground subsidence and collapse mars 1 noachian layered materials are pervasively exposed throughout the highlands of mars the layered deposits in places many kilometers thick exhibit impact craters of diverse morphologic characteristics ranging from highly degraded to pristine most of which formed during the period of heavy bombardment in addition exhumed impact craters ancient channels and fluvial and alluvial fans are visible in the layered deposits through moc imagery these features are more abundant in noachian terrains which indicates relatively high erosion rates during ancient mars that competed with heavy meteoritic bombardment the noachian layered materials are thus expected to contain numerous buried impact craters in various states of preservation here we propose that impact craters buried and exposed and associated fracture systems dominate the basement structural fabric of the ancient highlands and that they have significantly influenced the hydrogeology diversity in the occurrence of high and low densities of impact craters and associated fracture systems controls the magnitude of the local effects of magmatic driven hydrothermal activity in and surrounding the tharsis region for example the formation of chaotic terrains the source regions of the circum chryse outflow channel system and a large diversity of collapse structures including impact crater moats and pit chains appear to be the result of enhanced hydrothermal activity

magnetic anisotropy in the trenton limestone results of a new technique anisotropy of anhysteretic susceptibility a new method for determining magnetic anisotropy using anhysteric remanence susceptibility is described the magnetic fabric of a collection of trenton limestone specimens has been determined using this method as well as by conventional anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility the results demonstrate the usefulness of the new method for finding the magnetic fabric of rock units such as the trenton in which the bulk magnetic susceptibilities are low a model is proposed to explain the observed foliated and lineated fabric as a consequence of overburden compaction and regional horizontal stresses the original fabric is inferred to have been isotropic the anisotropy resides in secondary magnetite of late paleozoic age it is argued that the observed magnetic fabric must therefore be alleghenian or younger in age our method has the potential to determine paleostress directions in carbonates elsewhere provided our assumptions are correct

stratigraphy and erosional landforms of layered deposits in valles marineris mars the complex stratigraphy of layered deposits suggests a diversity of origins ages and post depositional modification histories the complexities within some layered deposits indicate changes in the dominant source materials in space and time the stratigraphy of layered deposits in the isolated martian chasmata hebes juventae and gangis is not well correlated this indicates that at least these chasmata had isolated depositional environments resulting in different stratigraphic sequences separated layered deposits in ophir candor and melas chasmata might have been a single continuous deposit in each chasma chaotic terrains are found in conjunction with layered deposits in juventae gangis and capri eos chasmata in these chasmata layered deposits unconformably overlie chaotic terrains chaotic terrain formation may have provided water to form paleolakes and lacustrine deposition of thick layered deposits may have occurred if the canyons were closed a very thick sequence of the layered deposits has been exposed by erosion a combination of gradual processes such as evaporation of ice and eolian and fluvial transport in addition to structural processes may be responsible for this erosion another alternative is that catastrophic water release under the layered deposits disrupted and initiated erosion of the layered deposits newly identified units of anomalous color are confined to the depressions or reentrants in western candor chasma the difference in color between these units and the surrounding terrain is most consistent with a somewhat greater content of bulk crystalline hematite in these anomalous units the presence of the candor units is a result of original and or secondary deposition which is different from the primary and dominant formation of the layered deposits

a volcanotectonic survey of ascraeus mons mars 1 ascraeus mons is one of the largest volcanoes on mars it is replete with well preserved features that can be used to understand its volcanotectonic evolution previous studies of this volcano focused on specific features and were limited by the quality and coverage of contemporary data our objective is to review and enhance the existing developmental model for ascraeus by considering all endogenic surface features on the volcano we surveyed the volcano s caldera complex flank terraces pit structures sinuous rilles arcuate grabens and small vents we report the spatial and temporal distributions of these features appraise their proposed formation mechanisms in light of our mapping results and propose a detailed geological history for ascraeus mons an initial shield building phase was followed by the formation of a summit caldera complex and small parasitic cones while compression due to flexure of the supporting basement led to extensive terracing of the shield flanks an eruptive hiatus followed ending with the construction of expansive rift aprons to the northeast and southwest against later extensive flank resurfacing in the late amazonian continued flexure formed arcuate grabens concentric to the edifice localized eruption and surface flow of a fluid agent lava and or water from within the volcano then produced a population of rilles on the lower flanks finally in a change of flank tectonic regime from compression to extension pit crater chains and troughs developed on the main shield and rift aprons eventually coalescing to form large embayments at the northeast and southwest base of the volcano

modeling the collapse of hebes chasma valles marineris mars physical modeling and detailed mapping of hebes chasma provide new insights into the crustal composition and origin of the valles marineris region of equatorial mars hebes chasma is a 315 km long and 8 km deep closed depression containing distinctive landforms that include diapirs and extensive allochthonous flows that end in pits a central puzzle of hebes chasma is how and where 10 5 km 3 of missing material disappeared our physical models tested the hypothesis that the chasma formed by collapse and removal of material from below gravity driven collapse in the models reproduced all the chasma9s main landforms as subsidence evolved from early sagging of the upper surface to inward collapse and removal of material to emergence of diapirs and low gradient flows the models and geologic evidence suggest that hebes mensa arched upward diapirically and raised deep stratigraphy almost level with the chasma rim if the chasma indeed collapsed by subsurface drainage as occurred in the models the upper 8 10 km of deposits at hebes must have been solid to depths of 5 km but viscous at greater depths the materials removed could not have consisted mainly of basalt flows instead they probably were a mixture of hydrated and nonhydrated salts water ice liquid water and insoluble likely basaltic particles the proportions of these constituents are unknown but constrained because the material drained from the subsiding chasma and apparently contributed to the outburst floods released down neighboring echus chasma and kasei valles

using ams combined with mineral shape preferred orientation analysis to understand the emplacement fabrics of the apiai gabbro norite ribeira belt se brazil the apiai gabbro norite is a massive fine grained neoproterozoic intrusion emplaced in a core of synformal structure that deforms low grade marine metasedimentary rocks of the ribeira belt of south eastern brazil the lack of visible magmatic layering or any internal fabric has been a major limitation in deciding whether the emplacement occurred before or after the regional folding to assist in the tectonic interpretations we combine low field anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams and silicate shape preferred orientation spo to reveal the internal structure of the mafic intrusion magnetic data indicate a mean susceptibility of about 10 2 si and a mean anisotropy degree p of about 1 08 essentially yielded by titanomagnetite the magnetic and silicate foliations for p 1 10 are parallel to each other while the lineations tend to scatter on the foliation plane in agreement with the dominant oblate symmetry of the ams and spo ellipsoids for lower p values the magnetic and silicate fabrics vary from coaxial to oblique and for p 1 05 their shapes and orientations can be quite distinct the crystal size distribution csd of plagioclase for p 1 05 is log linear in agreement with a bulk simple crystallisation history these results combined show that for a strong spo corresponding to a magnetic anisotropy above 1 10 ams is a reliable indicator of the magmatic fabric they indicate that the apiai gabbro norite consists of sill like body that was inclined gently to the north by the regional folding

composite magmatic magnetic fabrics evidences late ams in syn tectonic dikes in the monteiro sume plutonic volcanic complex ne brazil abstract interpretations of flow fabrics in dikes using anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams are based on the orientation of the magnetic fabric recorded next to the dike walls however uncertainties remain when ams is sensitive to parameters such as grain size and composition of the magnetic carriers and deformation of the magma we study subvolcanic andesite to dacite dikes associated with granite plutons that intrude the basement rocks the dikes have magnetic susceptibilities mostly between 10 3 and 10 2 si carried by fe ti oxides ams shows fabrics that would be consistent with a lateral movement of the magma however the anisotropy of anhysteretic remanence aar and silicate shape preferred orientation spo indicate that the melt moved upward based on the steeply plunging lineations detected by aar and spo furthermore the obliquity of the aar foliations in the dike margins indicates a component of transtension resolved in the dike walls as there is no evidence for internal deformation of titanomagnetite ams would record its late growth in the tectonic extension direction the magnetic subfabric concealed by late ams therefore documents an earlier tectonic episode and evidence the limits of using just ams directions to constrain the emplacement of syntectonic magmas

mars a water rich planet abstract mars had outgassed at least 0 5 to 1 km of water 10 to 20 bar of co2 and 0 1 to 0 3 bar of n2 the volatiles that have been retained are mostly in the cratered uplands terrain softening fretted channels debris flows and closed depressions indicate that at least the upper 2 km of the cratered uplands at high latitudes 30 contain ice in amounts that exceed the porosity estimated to be 10 20 theoretical studies and lack of these features in the cratered uplands at low latitudes suggest that the upper 1 km of the uplands at low latitudes is ice poor however valley networks indicate that water was present near the surface early in the planet s history although in amounts smaller than at high latitudes the entire upper 1 km planetwide is estimated to have contained 75 125 m of water at the end of heavy bombardment the largest sink for water is the megaregolith below 1 km episodic eruption of water from the deep megaregolith cut many of the large outflow channels from the volume of water needed to cut the circum chryse channels and assuming uniform planetwide distribution of water the deep megaregolith is estimated to have contained at least 350 m of water at the end of heavy bombardment thereby giving a total minimum inventory of 424 475 m planetwide most of the water lost from the low latitude uplands by diffusion and in cutting the valley networks is now believed to be in the polar layered terrains most of the water involved in cutting the outflow channels is in the low lying northern plains where a variety of features that have been attributed to ground ice is present a large fraction of the planet s surface has been overplated with water poor volcanics of which we have samples in the snc meteorites the younger volcanics have reacted extensively with the old volatile rich basement some of the co2 and n2 outgassed was lost during heavy bombardment by impact erosion of the atmosphere and other processes the remaining was fixed carbonates and folded deep into the megaregolith during heavy bombardment

mars reconnaissance orbiter observations of light toned layered deposits and associated fluvial landforms on the plateaus adjacent to valles marineris abstract we have used data from the mars reconnaissance orbiter to study 30 80 m thick light toned layered deposits on the plateaus adjacent to valles marineris at five locations 1 south of ius chasma 2 south of western melas chasma 3 south of western candor chasma 4 west of juventae chasma and 5 west of ganges chasma the beds within these deposits have unique variations in brightness color mineralogy and erosional properties that are not typically observed in light toned layered deposits within valles marineris or many other equatorial areas on mars reflectance spectra indicate these deposits contain opaline silica and fe sulfates consistent with low temperature acidic aqueous alteration of basaltic materials we have found valley or channel systems associated with the layered deposits at all five locations and the volcanic plains adjacent to juventae ius and ganges exhibit inverted channels composed of light toned beds valleys channels and light toned layering along the walls of juventae and melas chasmata are most likely coeval to the aqueous activity that affected the adjacent plateaus and indicate some hydrological activity occurred after formation of the chasmata although the source of water and sediment remains uncertain the strong correlation between fluvial landforms and light toned layered deposits argues for sustained precipitation surface runoff and fluvial deposition occurring during the hesperian on the plateaus adjacent to valles marineris and along portions of chasmata walls

displacement length scaling for terrestrial and martian faults implications for valles marineris and shallow planetary grabens the displacement length ratio for the central composite graben in valles marineris inferred from topography and likely stratigraphic offsets to be d max l 4 6 x 10 3 is consistent with the scaling relations derived from terrestrial faults and grabens that also demonstrate a systematic variation in displacement with position along the structure the large 10 km depth in central valles marineris is therefore not unusual but rather should be expected for a fault system 2240 km long in contrast existing measurements of throw along the numerous shallow radial grabens in tharsis while apparently inconsistent with the scaling relations demonstrate the importance of recognizing mechanical segment length along linked or echelon graben sets faults on other planetary surfaces should scale with their terrestrial counterparts as long as they extend substantially deeper than the gravity dependent near surface rock mass zone 1 km for earth 2 5 km for mars

the use of field dependence of ac susceptibility for the interpretation of magnetic mineralogy and magnetic fabrics in the hsdp 2 basalts hawaii abstract we applied the field dependence parameter hd k 300a m k 30a m k 300a m 100 given by de wall for the subaerial and submarine basalts drilled by the 3109 m deep hsdp 2 borehole on hawaii in order to verify the hypothesis that mainly composition controls the field dependence of ac susceptibility in titanomagnetite of natural occurrences when we used this parameter our data showed a significant scattering compared to data presented in earlier studies in addition to composition the effect of measurement temperature grain size and anisotropy on the field dependent susceptibility were examined and found to be critical the impact of grain size is weaker than the other effects it cannot be totally excluded that the observed effects arise indirectly through an overlap of the other effects for the investigated basalts the most important factor for the variation of field dependence is the degree of oxidation causing a modification of the titanomagnetite composition or formation of titanomaghemite and the mixing of ti rich with ti poor titanomagnetites which strongly reduces the hd parameter field dependence is not only related to titanomagnetite composition especially for intermediate titanomagnetites with t c s between 100 and 300 c temperature dependent susceptibility measurements at different field amplitudes for these intermediate types showed at constant geometry of the k t curve great differences in susceptibility resulting in significant changes of the field dependence parameter over the temperature interval from 100 to 260 c therefore variations of the ambient measurement temperatures are able to influence the field dependence the second important effect is the degree of particle shape and alignment which controls the field dependence in different orientations especially for the intermediate titanomagnetite which is intensively intergrown with elongated hemoilmenite grains as a consequence samples with higher degrees of anisotropy exhibit differences of the field dependence parameter if measured parallel to k max or k min axis therefore in addition to compositional effects and the temperature dependence the magnetic fabric has to be considered for the interpretation of field dependent susceptibility measurements the influence of intrinsic ti content magnetocrystalline anisotropy and extrinsic shape and alignment of grains factors for the interpretation of the degree of anisotropy has to be kept in mind when interpreting ams data in terms of strain rates experienced by moving lava during emplacement

mars the regolith atmosphere cap system and climate change abstract a new model for predicting the behavior of the martian regolith atmosphere cap co 2 regime and describing its role in climate change is derived the model describes the time temperature histories of 90 regolith chunks on a latitude depth grid accounting for co 2 exchange by means of laboratory derived expressions relating temperature co 2 pressure p co 2 and adsorbed co 2 mass co 2 polar cap formation and sublimation is accounted for subject to the constraint of constant total co 2 in the atmosphere regolith cap system the influence of differences in regolith adsorption laws for basalt and clay and the influence of variations in regolith depth with latitude regolith thermal diffusivity and total exchangeable co 2 inventory on predicted variations in atmospheric pressure and cap mass are examined the following results are indicated 1 the atmosphere acts as a low capacity conduit through which flows between 10 and 100 times the current atmospheric mass of co 2 between two reservoirs a regolith ocean of adsorbed co 2 and a polar cap cryosphere 2 exchange between these reservoirs is driven by variations of obliquity with the polar cap the dominant co 2 sink at low and the regolith dominating at high atmospheric pressure ranges between 0 1 low and 15 mbar high pressures of up to 25 mbar could result from pre tharsis variations pressure up to 40 mbarare achieved only in models which also call for a huge quasi permanent present co 2 cap which is not apparent 3 at high the atmospheric pressure is buffered by the regolith and satisfies adsorption equilibrium for the 90 chunks as well as conservation of co 2 mass at low a potetially large co 2 cap appears and the atmospheric pressure is buffered by the cap not the regolith 4 the periodic reservoir flushing can account for the observation of simultaneous nonenrichment of 18 o and enrichment of 13 n 5 mars climate history may be divided into three parts a post tharsis formation history as described above b pre tharsis formation with qualitatively similar processes but larger oscillations between reservoirs and larger atmospheric pressure and cap mass variation and c the very early period of channel formation 6 the nature of the response of the three part regolith atmosphere polar cap martian climate system to surface insolation variations may be analogous to that of earth s ocean atmosphere cryosphere system

origin and evolution of the layered deposits in the valles marineris mars abstract thick sequences of layered deposits are found in the martian valles marineris they exhibit fine nearly horizontal layering and are present as isolated plateaus of what may have once been more extensive deposits individual sequences of layered deposits are as thick as 5 km the greatest total thicknesses of deposits are found in candor ophir and melas chasmata individual layer thicknesses range from about 70 to 300 m some tilting of sequences is observed but at the best image resolutions no angular unconformities are detectable in the layers the sequences of events in the canyons as deduced from morphologic and stratigraphic evidence was 1 graben formation in response to the tharsis uplift 2 canyon wall retreat and canyon enlargement roughly contemporaneous with formation of the layered deposits 3 deep erosion of the layered deposits 4 landsliding of the canyon walls and 5 eolian erosion of the layered deposits perhaps continuing up to the present we consider four hypotheses for the origin of the layered deposits they are eolian deposits they are remnants of the material that makes up the canyon walls they are deposits of explosive volcanic eruptions or they were deposited in standing bodies of water the rhythmic nature of the layers and their lateral continuity horizontality great thickness and stratigraphic relationships with other units in the canyons all appear most consistent with deposition in an aqueous environment if standing bodies of water existed in the valles marineris they were almost certainly ice covered there are three ways in which sediment could have entered an ice covered lake down through the ice cover up from the lake bottom or in from the lake margins layers of sediment could have been transported downward through an ice cover by foundering or rayleigh taylor instabilities but it is not clear whether there was a viable mechanism for repeatedly accumulating thick sediment layers on top of the ice cover subaqueous volcanic eruption on the lake bottom does not suffer from many of the morphologic arguments that make origin by subaerial volcanism seem improbable while this mechanism is attractive there are no eruptive centers observed and there is no other direct evidence to support it because canyon enlargement took place at roughly the same time as layer deposition debris from the canyon walls is an obvious and likely source for some of the material in the layered deposits however the volume of material removed from the canyon walls may be insufficient to account for all of the presently observed material we conclude that there are several geologically feasible but as yet unproven mechanisms that could have led to formation of thick deposits in ice covered paleolakes in the valles marineris present data are insufficient to choose conclusively among the various possibilities several types of data from the mars observer mission will be useful in further characterizing the deposits and clarifying the process of their origin the deposits should be considered important targets for a future mars sample return mission

magnetite microexsolutions in silicate and magmatic flow fabric of the goyozan granitoid ne japan significance of partial remanence anisotropy 1 anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams has been widely used to infer magmatic flow patterns of granitoids where an appropriate ams axis is parallel to an alignment of mafic minerals or magnetite the magmatic flow fabric in cretaceous granitic plutons from northeastern japan was verified using an analysis of anisotropy of partial anhysteretic remanent magnetization aparm which further isolates the magnetite subfabrics according to magnetite grain size the preferred orientation of polysynthetic twins in plagioclase laths and clinopyroxene is discordant with the bulk ams fabric along outer marginal zones of the granitoid as shown by image analysis of microphotographs from thin sections cut in orthogonal planes this suggests that the uncorroborated use of bulk ams to detect flow fabric in granitoids has risks scanning electron microscopy sem reveals that submicroscopic needle shaped magnetite inclusions exsolved in anhedral plagioclase and clinopyroxene may explain such anomalous exceptions to the validity of ams fabrics our aparm measurements show that the aparm alignment of relatively high coercive submicroscopic magnetite inclusions is concordant to the linear orientation of anhedral plagioclase and clinopyroxene the combination of sem ams and aparm was required to confirm the magmatic and submagmatic flow pattern of granitoids in this study and is generally preferable to the use of ams alone

possible cryptic tectono magnetic fabrics in post tectonic granitoid plutons of the canadian shield two late archean granitic plutons forcefully intruded and thermally metamorphosed archean schists feldspar magacrysts aligned concentrically with the margins during inflation substantial tectonic deformation never affected the plutons nevertheless both plutons show the same consistently oriented cryptic magnetic fabric revealed by anisotropy of low field susceptibility ams from 134 samples they have an ne sw vertical magnetic foliation and a magnetic lineation trending 060 15 eigenvalues of the orientation distribution of principal susceptibilities show that the magnetic fabrics have almost identical strengths orientations and symmetry in both plutons we propose a post magmatic reactivation of the earlier regional tectonic shortening this imparted a cryptic tectonic magnetic fabric on the plutons that overprinted the magmatic ams fabric in most outcrops the plutons ams fabrics are subparallel to the much older schistosity of the country rocks because multidomain magnetite provides 99 of the low field susceptibility of the rocks it controls the ams however we see no alignment of the magnetite grains thus magnetic anisotropy may be due to stress alignment of intragranular domain walls and not controlled by grain shape as usually assumed for magnetite

a network of lava tubes as the origin of labyrinthus noctis and valles marineris on mars abstract the role of lava tube networks and lava channels is reassessed as the primordial stage of the volcano erosional processes that formed the labyrinthus noctis valles marineris system instead of a tectonic origin the combined use of ctx crism hirise imagery and mola profiles has provided valuable insight in the evolution of pit chains into fossae first and then chasmata later due to mass wasting processes caused by the erosional effect of the lava flows that draped valles marineris and other outflow channels although a quantitative evaluation of eruption rates is difficult even with digital terrain models dtms because of the mixing between new flows and paleoflows a comparison with elysium and other tharsis outflow channels suggests that the availability of lava supply is correlated to their widths the images of ubiquitous lava flows rather than sporadic light toned deposits strengthen the role of lava over that of water in the erosional processes that formed labyrinthus noctis and carved valles marineris like many other outflow channel on mars the erosional evolution of the outflow channels shows an increasing trend of age and a decreasing trend of depth from the sources on tharsis to the mouths at chryse planitia this finding coupled with the observation of lava flows mantling chryse planitia may have profound implications for the water inventories thought to have filled the lowlands with an ocean

noncoaxial k feldspar and ams subfabrics in the land s end granite cornwall evidence of magmatic fabric decoupling during late deformation and matrix crystallization 1 a comparative study of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams and k feldspar phenocryst fabrics in the land s end granite demonstrates that the ams fabric predominantly reflects late magmatic deformation tensor analysis of the k feldspar fabric shows a complex pattern characterized by meter scale variations in orientation symmetry and intensity mainly related to heterogeneous flow of the phenocryst rich magma during emplacement in contrast the ams fabric is predominantly homogenous subhorizontal and oblate and is stable at the pluton scale quantitative microstructural analysis suggests that the ams fabric is controlled by deformation of the partially crystallized matrix resulting from the combined effects of late internal adjustment within the pluton and regional deformation a general model of fabric development associated with a vertical pure shear overprint on a variable vertical fabric is evaluated by numerical modeling the study demonstrates how the memory of different fabric elements may be dependent upon their grain size crystallization sequence and recorded previous strain

formation of martian outflow channels by catastrophic dewatering of evaporite deposits geological mapping based on topographic analysis of mars orbiter laser altimeter mola data together with photointerpretation of mars orbiter camera moc images and thermodynamic and heat flow considerations frame a new hypothesis for the formation of martian outflow channels through catastrophic dewatering of evaporite deposits mola transects across valles marineris show that the valley is located at the crest of a 3 km high topographic bulge on the flank of the much larger tharsis rise interpretation of moc images showing layered deposits within valles marineris as unconformably underlying hesperian age lava flows means that these thick deposits thought to contain hydrous sulfates were heated by an increased geothermal gradient due to development of tharis increased temperatures adequate to dehydrate hydrous evaporites would trigger significant volumetric expansion and catastrophically release tremendous amounts of overpressured water