Morphometric signatures of subsurface mass migration on Ceres

This project will use the Dawn High Altitude Mapping Orbit (HAMO) data to analyze the domes, mounds, domal uplift regions, and associated geologic features on Ceres to constrain the volume, depth and general geometry of the subsurface mass migration that created them. Domical features have been identified nearly globally, but not uniformly, on Ceres; this project will extend current understanding into the subsurface to provide a more robust regional-to-global understanding of these uplift features. In four tasks, the project team will (1) determine the morphometric parameters of the domes and domal uplift regions on Ceres by geometric parameters width, height, and slope variation; (2) model dome development under a variety of experimental conditions of depth and dome geometry, both salt migration and cryomagmatism; (3) analyze fracture patterns associated with domal uplift to determine the depth of the deforming layer and general geometry of the underlying material; and (4) constrain the volumetric thicknesses across regions of Ceres to determine lateral variations in subsurface materials.