Degradation of Mid-Latitude Craters on Mars

Dan Berman

(Planetary Science Institute)

I will be presenting results from a survey of mid-latitude craters in two regions on Mars, one in the northern hemisphere (near Arabia Terra), and one in the southern hemisphere (near eastern Hellas). Every crater greater than 20 km in diameter (with sufficient high-resolution image coverage) was examined in each region for evidence of volatile-driven degradation. The presence and orientation of morphologies indicative of the deposition and mobilization of ice were recorded. Features such as lobate flows, channels, valleys, debris aprons, gullies, and arcuate ridges, were found to be common in craters in these regions. The orientations of many of these features had directional preferences indicative of formation due to differences in solar insolation on different sides of the crater, leading to the theory that these features were formed during periods of high obliquity.

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