HR: 0800h
AN: P21A-0218    [Abstracts]
TI: Evaluating laboratory and satellite data of small terrestrial impact and volcanic craters as Mars analogs
AU: * Peet, V M
EM: vmp10@pitt.edu
AF: University of Pittsburgh Department of Geology and Planetary Science, 4107 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260-3332, United States
AU: Ramsey, M S
EM: ramsey@ivis.eps.pitt.edu
AF: University of Pittsburgh Department of Geology and Planetary Science, 4107 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260-3332, United States
AU: Crown, D A
EM: crown@psi.edu
AF: Planetary Science Institute, 1700 E. Ft. Lowell Rd., Suite 106, Tucson, AZ 85719, United States
AB: This research is designed to explore formational and subsequent erosional processes for small terrestrial craters using spaceborne, airborne, and field-based data combined with later laboratory spectral analyses. Quantifying and differentiating formation and erosional processes for these different crater types have implications for climate history and the surface evolution of Mars. We focused our studies on El Elegante maar crater in the Pinacate Volcanic Field (PVF) of north-central Mexico and Meteor Crater, an impact crater in central Arizona, due to their similarity in size, morphology, age, and weathering history. Topographic mapping and detailed surface classifications were conducted at each crater using differential GPS, topographic laser profiles, and a Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) camera along half-kilometer radial transects (from crater rims into near field ejecta). Samples of surficial fines and small blocks were collected for laboratory-based thermal infrared (TIR) spectral analyses and comparison to remote sensing image data. The minor vegetation component present at each field site was quantified and used for later removal of its spectral component in the image data. The terrestrial instruments selected for their spectral range, resolution, and similarities to current Mars datasets were: 1) IKONOS, 2) Hyperion, 3) Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), and 4) Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER). The different composition of the pre-formation host rocks (i.e., basalt at El Elegante and sandstone/limestone at Meteor Crater) provides an opportunity to investigate the effects of composition and sediment mixing. The TIR emission spectra collected at the University of Pittsburgh were used as an accuracy assessment for the surface compositional maps of both craters using techniques such as linear deconvolution, image classification, and spectral matching. Such detailed mapping was found to be essential for understanding of the effects of sediment transport and weathering in small crater environments. The laboratory generated hyperspectral data were required for accurate end-member selection to properly utilize the techniques employed for compositional map generation. Both the composition and ejecta size/distribution were found to influence sediment transport at each crater. Factors such as these are important for insight into the evolution and modification of the Martian surface, but may not be available without field-based (i.e., rover) data. This work has direct implications for determining the presence and role of volatiles in Martian cratering processes with the development of techniques for distinguishing maar-like volcanoes formed by the interaction of lava with water/ice from small impact craters.
DE: 3934 Optical, infrared, and Raman spectroscopy
DE: 5420 Impact phenomena, cratering (6022, 8136)
DE: 5464 Remote sensing
DE: 5480 Volcanism (6063, 8148, 8450)
DE: 6225 Mars
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting