Publication Date:
2019-07-13
Description:
The Mars Surveyor Program 2001 Mission will carry instruments on the orbiter, lander and rover that will support synergistic observations and experiments to address important scientific questions regarding the local bedrock and soils. The martian surface is covered in varying degrees by fine materials less than a few mms in size. Viking and Pathfinder images of the surface indicate that soils at those sites are composed of fine particles. Wheel tracks from the Sojourner rover suggest that soil deposits are composed of particles 〈40 mm. Viking images show that dunes are common in many areas on Mars and new MOC images indicate that dunes occur nearly everywhere. Dunes on Mars are thought to be composed of 250-500 microns particles based upon Viking IRTM data and Mars wind tunnel experiments. If martian dunes are composed of sand particles 〉 100 microns and soils are dominated by 〈10 micron particles, then where are the intermediate grain sizes? Have they been wom away through prolonged transport over the eons? Were they never generated to begin with? Or are they simply less easy to identify because do they not form distinctive geomorphic features such as dunes or uniform mantles that tend to assume superposition in the soil structure?
Keywords:
Lunar and Planetary Science and Exploration
Type:
Studies of Mineralogical and Textural Properties of Martian Soil: An Exobiological Perspective; 52-53|Lunar and Planetary Science; Mar 15, 1999 - Mar 19, 1999; Houston, TX; United States
Format:
text
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