Aeolian dune sediment flux heterogeneity in Meridiani Planum, Mars.

ABSTRACT: It is now known unambiguously that wind-driven bedform activity is occurring on the surface of Mars today, including early detections of active sand dunes in Meridiani Planum's Endeavour crater. Many of these reports are only based on a few sets of observations of relatively isolated bedforms and lack regional context. Here, we investigate aeolian activity across central Meridiani Planum and test the hypothesis that dune sites surrounding Endeavour crater are also active and part of region-wide sediment migration driven by northwesterly winds. All 13 dune fields investigated clearly showed evidence for activity and the majority exhibited dune migration (average rates of 0.6 m/Earth-year). Observations indicate substantial geographic and temporal heterogeneity of dune crest fluxes across th

SUBMITTER: Chojnacki M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5863747 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature