Mars exhibits diverse surface changes at all latitudes and all seasons. Active processes include impact cratering, aeolian sand and dust transport, a variety of slope processes, changes in polar ices, and diverse effects of seasonal CO frost. The extent of surface change has been surprising and indicates that the present climate is capable of reshaping the surface.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this article, we summarize the work of the NASA Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG) Roadmaps to Ocean Worlds (ROW) group. The aim of this group is to assemble the scientific framework that will guide the exploration of ocean worlds, and to identify and prioritize science objectives for ocean worlds over the next several decades. The overarching goal of an Ocean Worlds exploration program as defined by ROW is to "identify ocean worlds, characterize their oceans, evaluate their habitability, search for life, and ultimately understand any life we find.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGeol Soc Spec Publ
November 2017
Repeat, high-resolution imaging of dunes within the Martian north polar erg have shown that these dune slopes are very active, with alcoves forming along the dune brink each Mars year. In some areas, a few hundred cubic metres of downslope sand movement have been observed, sometimes moving the dune brink 'backwards'. Based on morphological and activity-timing similarities of these north polar features to southern dune gullies, identifying the processes forming these features is likely to have relevance for understanding the general evolution/modification of dune gullies.
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