Paper Info
Title
Development of Chaos Terrain as Subaqueous Slide Blocks in Galilaei Crater, Mars
Abstract
Chaos terrain, expressed as enigmatic blocky landscapes on Mars, has poorly understood origins. Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain chaos terrain formation, but none fully account for the morphologies observed in Galilaei crater, the focus of this study. Previously inferred to be a paleolake, Galilaei crater hosts chaos terrain composed of kilometer-scale, disorganized blocks around the southern and southeastern margin of the crater. Blocks are concentrated near the base of the crater wall, with blocks of decreasing size extending into the crater interior. The crater wall slope in regions where these chaos blocks are present is notably lower than in regions where blocks are absent. Based on the observed morphologies, we propose the chaos terrain in Galilaei crater formed by gravity-driven slope failure and down-slope transport as subaqueous landslides and mass flows, initiated at a time when the paleolake level was still high. We propose and discuss Earth analogs for the observed terrain and use mapping-constrained spatiotemporal relationships to reconstruct the sequence of landform development. Subaqueous landslides represent an uncommonly invoked mechanism to explain chaos terrain on Mars, reinforcing the idea that one mechanism cannot explain the diversity of this enigmatic terrain.
Year
DOI
Venue
2022
10.3390/rs14091998
REMOTE SENSING
Keywords
DocType
Volume
Mars, Galilaei crater, chaos terrain, subaqueous slide, analog
Journal
14
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
9
2072-4292
0
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.34
0
5
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Nabila Nizam100.34
Claire Divola200.34
Mackenzie Day300.34
An Yin400.34
Seulgi Moon500.34