Geological Society of America

T266 Best Student Geologic Mapping Competition (Posters)

Tuesday, 27 September 2016
9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Exhibit Hall E/F

MAPPING IN THE NORTHERN MARTIAN PLAINS: A RENEWED SURVEY OF GEOLOGIC UNITS IN THE ACIDALIA MENSAE AND COLLES REGIONS

Paper number: T266-7
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:00 AM – 6:30 PM

Authors

Andrew Siwabessy Presenting Author
California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
Tim Parker
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
Robert C. Anderson
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Marshall Trautman
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

Abstract

Acidalia Mensae is an oblong field of tilted mesas roughly trending east-west, with Acidalia Colles encompassing a regime of knobby terrain trending northeast from the center of the mesa region. Each province extends for approximately 300km in their respective directions in the heart of the vast plains of Acidalia Planitia. As part of efforts in the 1980s targeting evidences for a putative northern Martian paleo-ocean – manifesting itself most notably in geologic maps of quadrangles in East Acidalia – the Acidalia Mensae region was selected and divided into three quadrangles ranging across 26.8^oW to 36^oW and 47.5^oN to 52.5^oN. The region was then mapped at a 1:1,000,000 scale using Canvas on a Viking base map. We present an updated draft of this document converted into ArcMap, including a completed fourth quadrangle that covers the bulk of the Acidalia Colles region. Previously mapped units have been updated according to the availability of new higher-resolution data – particularly, THEMIS Day IR data as a base map, paired with supporting CTX and HRSC stamps extracted from the Mars Orbital Data Explorer repository. Geologic units and contacts for the mesa and knob regimes, interstitial alluvial units and the surrounding plains are comprehensively presented alongside lower-level features such as putative grabens, shorelines, pingos, and potentially tsunami-related fluvial rills. Upon minor revision, the map is to be submitted to the USGS for publication.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 48, No. 7

doi: 10.1130/abs/2016AM-286498

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