Martian Cryosphere Workshop |Wrozław | 10-12 February 2014

Periglacial landforms in Acidalia Mensa and Colles

D. Reiss1, Hauber, E., van Gasselt, S., Johnsson, A., Balme, M.R., Conway, S.J., Costard, F., Gallagher, C., Kereszturi, A., Platz, T., Ramsdale, J.D., Séjourné, A., Skinner, J.A., Jr., Swirad, Z.

1Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 10, 48149 Münster, Germany

We mapped and analyzed periglacial landforms in Acidalia Mensa (45°-49°N/331.5°-337.5°E) and Acidalia Colles (48°-53.5°N/331.5°-341.5°E). The most common landforms in these regions are gullies and scalloped terrains. Preliminary analyses show that some gullies are related to a degraded dust-ice mantle indicating that they were probably formed by melting of its ice content. Gully orientations are limited towards equator-facing slopes in agreement to previous studies. Scalloped terrains in these regions are morphologically degraded in comparison to resembling landforms with a more pristine appearance in Utopia Planitia. This study is part of a larger project studying the periglacial history of the northern lowlands which is supported and convened by the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Bern.