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Intracrater sediment trapping and transport in Arabia Terra, Mars
  • Taylor Christopher Dorn,
  • Mackenzie Day
Taylor Christopher Dorn
University of California Los Angeles

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Mackenzie Day
University of California Los Angeles
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Abstract

Craters are the most prevalent basins and potential depo-centers of sediment on Mars. Within these craters and extending from them, terminal dune fields and wind streaks are abundant, indicating active sediment transport and providing a way to study how wind and sediment interact with crater topography. Here, we explore the role of craters as both sources and sinks in the modern martian sedimentary cycle. Our results show that craters with low albedo wind streaks (indicative of active transport out of a crater) have lower crater wall slopes (9.4° ±5.5°) compared to craters without wind streaks (17° ±5.8°). We interpret that crater wall slopes play a dominant role in sediment transport out of a crater basin, and infer, from measurements of craters on Mars, that a crater transitions from being a net sediment sink to a net sediment source when crater wall slopes reach ~15°. This threshold value is consistent with limits of bedform climb observed on Earth and elsewhere on Mars.
Sep 2020Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets volume 125 issue 9. 10.1029/2020JE006581