Description
Mars Geological Enigmas: From the Late Noachian Epoch to the Present Day presents outstanding questions on the geology of Mars and divergent viewpoints based on varying interpretations and analyses. The result is a robust and comprehensive discussion that provides opportunities for planetary scientists to develop their own opinions and ways forward. Each theme opens with an introduction that includes background on the topic and lays out questions to be addressed. Alternate perspectives are covered for each topic, including methods, observations, analyses, and in-depth discussion of the conclusions. Chapters within each theme reference each other to facilitate comparison and deeper understanding of divergent opinions.- Offers a transchronological view of the geological history of Mars, addressing thematic questions from a broad temporal perspective- Discusses outstanding questions on Mars from diverging perspectives- Includes key questions and answers, as well as a look ahead to which puzzles remain to be solved
Table of Contents
1. Current enigmas identified by the Curiosity rover at the Gale craterNode IWhat sourced the enormous flows and volumes that formed the outflow channels and highland-margin contacts of ancient Mars?2. The fluvial interpretation of outflow channels on Mars: landforms, processes and paleoenvironmental implications3. Was there an early Mars ocean?4. Dry megafloods on Mars: formation of the outflow channels by voluminous effusions of low viscosity lavaNode IICan impact craters be used to derive reliable surface ages on Mars?5. Challenges in crater chronology arising from the Jezero impact crater6. The role of secondary craters on Martian crater chronologyNode IIIThe perplexing story of methane on Mars7. Methane on Mars: subsurface sourcing and conflicting atmospheric measurements8. A review of the meteor shower hypothesis for methane on MarsNode IVDoes water flow on Martian slopes?9. The possible role of water in recent surface-processes on Mars10. Dry formation of recent Martian slope-featuresNode VEarth analogues for Mars - a plethora of choice!11. The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica: a geological, environmental and ecological analog to the Martian surfac12. The Atacama Desert: a window into late Mars surface habitability13. Ancient life in diverse habitats from the Pilbara Craton and Mount Bruce Supergroup, western Australia: analogues for early Mars?Node VIThe freeze-thaw cycling of water at/near the Martian surface: present, past and possible?14. Pingo-like mounds and possible periglaciation/glaciation at/adjacent to the Moreux impact crater, Mars15. Thermokarst-like depressions on Mars: age constraints on ice degradation in Utopia PlanitiaNode VIIHemispheres together: towards understanding the Mars dichotomy16. Forging the Mars crustal-dichotomy: the giant impact hypothesis17. Endogenic origin of the Martian hemispheric dichotomy?James Roberts
