Ventifacts at the Pathfinder Landing Site
About half of the rocks at the Mars Pathfinder Ares Vallis landing site appear to be ventifacts, rocks abraded by windborne particles.
Mars↗
Engineering topics
Herkenhoff, K.
Publications and source records attributed to Herkenhoff, K..
Geologic Map of the MTM -85280 Quadrangle, Planum Australe Region of Mars
Published geologic maps of the south polar region of Mars have been based on either Mariner 9 or Viking Orbiter images.
Formation south polar region of Mars↗
Polar deposits of Mars
Layered deposits unique to the poles of Mars indicate long-term winter deposition of ice and sediment modulated by periodic climate change. The layered deposits contain at least two kinds of nonvolatile materials: one that is similar to the bright red dust raised in Martian dust storms, and one similar to dark sand dune materials observed at low and mild latitudes. The ice fraction of the deposits remains unknown. Because the present polar dust and ice budgets are poorly constrained, correlation of layer thicknesses with specific astronomical cycles remains very uncertain. Layered deposits in both polar regions appear to have been slightly more widespread in the past. Other sediments near the poles, and the estimated ages of the layered deposits, suggest that the polar sedimentary regime has evolved over the geologic history of Mars. Acquisition of good data on the vertical sequence of layer characteristics and better crater retention ages should allow revealing comparisons with astronomically driven cycles and secular atmospheric changes.
Thomas, P.↗
Mars polar volatiles: Topographic and geologic setting
Progress on a project to elucidate the geological and topographic setting of the Martian polar volatiles is reported. The following accomplishments are enumerated: (1) all of the Mariner 9 imaging data sets available through JPL were acquired and copied; (2) Mariner 9 imagery was investigated in terms of the accuracy of the imaging footprints, dark current, and residual image; (3) the transfer functions of both vidicons were investigated; and (4) the magnitude of the atmospheric scattering was examined.
Murray, B.↗