HR: 1330h
AN: P42A-0424    [PDF]
TI: Seasonal Weather Patterns Influencing Dune Morphology in Noachis Terra, Mars: Using a Mesoscale Model for Surface Science
AU: * Fenton, L K
EM: lkfenton@asu.edu
AF: Arizona State University, Dept. of Geological Sciences Mail Code 1404, Tempe, AZ 85287 United States
AU: Richardson, M I
EM: mir@gps.caltech.edu
AF: California Institute of Technology, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences MC 150-21, Pasadena, CA 91125 United States
AU: Toigo, A D
EM: toigo@astro.cornell.edu
AF: Cornell University, Center for Radiophysics and Space Research 326 Space Sciences Building, Ithaca, NY 14853 United States
AB: The work of the wind is the one sedimentary process that both acts on the surface and interacts with the lower atmosphere of Mars. Wind-sculpted landforms such as sand dunes are among the few features visible in spacecraft images that provide information on the aeolian sedimentary environment and surface wind circulation patterns of Mars. The study of the placement and orientations of sand dunes leads to the depositional, erosional, and transport history of sand across a region. When correlated with wind predictions from an atmospheric model, dune orientations provide not only model verification but also an understanding of the seasonal weather patterns that influence dune morphology. We have applied a mesoscale model to Noachis Terra, an 1800 km x 3500 km area of Mars containing several dune fields. The Mars Mesoscale Model 5 (Mars MM5), developed from the PSU/NCAR MM5, was run in periods spanning the Martian year, predicting seasonal wind patterns for each of nine dune fields in Noachis Terra. Dune slipface orientations were measured for all dune fields imaged by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on the Mars Global Surveyor. Preliminary results indicate a high correspondence of dune morphology with present-day seasonally-dependent wind patterns predicted by the Mars MM5.
DE: 5400 PLANETOLOGY: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS
DE: 5407 Atmospheres--evolution
DE: 5445 Meteorology (3346)
DE: 5464 Remote sensing
DE: 6225 Mars
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting