The Dorsa Argentea, Mars: New Comparisons to a Large Sample of Terrestrial Eskers and Quantitative Tests for Esker-Like Topographic Relationships

Butcher, F. E.G.; Conway, S. J. and Arnold, N. S. (2016). The Dorsa Argentea, Mars: New Comparisons to a Large Sample of Terrestrial Eskers and Quantitative Tests for Esker-Like Topographic Relationships. In: Sixth International Conference on Mars Polar Science and Exploration, 5-9 Sep 2016, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.

URL: http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/marspolar2016/pdf...

Abstract

The Dorsa Argentea (DA) are an assemblage of ridges in Mars’ southern high latitudes (70°-80°S, 56°W-6°E). Glacial eskers and inverted channels remain as active hypotheses for their formation. The esker interpretation is widely used as a basis for reconstructions of meltwater production beneath a putative former ice sheet in the region of the DA during Mars’ Hesperian period, despite a lack of rigorous quantitative testing of the esker hypothesis. We undertake the first large-scale quantitative analysis of the plan view geometries of the DA in a comparison to >5900 terrestrial esker systems in Canada. Statistical tests for esker-like topographic relationships are also completed. Our results support the esker hypothesis and highlight that future studies of the DA and its parent ice sheet should more closely consider the ongoing debate over the spatio-temporal nature of terrestrial esker formation, and its implications for reconstructions of ice sheet meltwater production.

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