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aldo12xu

Member

From: Toronto, Canada

Registered: 2005-04-04

Posts: 31

Re: Anatolia trough & Mars karst topography

I don't know if anyone has discussed this paper discussing a karst-like origin for the Anatolia trough/crack seen by Opportunity on sols 70-81:

ftp://www.lpi.usra.edu/pub/outgoing/lps … full77.pdf
Sz. Berczi (2005), Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVI. Possibility of Karst Morphology on the Martian Surface at the Merdidiani Landing Site from Comparison with Terrestrial Analogs.

I added some of my own observations and a write up on my site http://www.marsgeo.com/]http://www.marsgeo.com/

So check it out and feel free to make any comments.

Cheers,
Aldo.

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[url=http://www.marsgeo.com/]http://www.marsgeo.com/[/url]

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: Anatolia trough & Mars karst topography

very nice stuff, Aldo.

Definitely worth a visit!   :up:

aldo12xu

Member

From: Toronto, Canada

Registered: 2005-04-04

Posts: 31

Re: Anatolia trough & Mars karst topography

Thanks, Rxke, glad you like the site.  I was able to get permission from Berczi, the author of the article, to post his sketch of his Anatolia karst model.  So now my write up is complete

The following article was brought to my attention.  The article discusses chains of pits forming along fault zones (eg. flanks of Alba Patera).  Smaller scaled versions, such as the terrestrial example shown in Figure 5, could also be an analogue for Anatolia.

http://www.gsajournals.org/gsaonline/?r … ....CO%3B2

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[url=http://www.marsgeo.com/]http://www.marsgeo.com/[/url]

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: Anatolia trough & Mars karst topography

I saw you posted about the Ultreya Hole, too...

Do you have an errr... unofficial opinion about it? What do you think? What do other people currently think about it?

Given the rover's 18 month extended mission, what does the NASA geologist think about it? Are they going to havve a look?

aldo12xu

Member

From: Toronto, Canada

Registered: 2005-04-04

Posts: 31

Re: Anatolia trough & Mars karst topography

Well, there are two extremes when it comes to Ultreya or the so-called Inner Basin.  The "professional scientists" believe it is wind blown dust that is in the shadow of the northern cliff face.  On the other extreme, "amateur observers" believe it's the opening to a very deep cave system formed through some surface hydrogeologic process. 

I'm basically in the middle.  I don't think there's enough evidence to call it a cave in the true sense and I don't see any evidence for water action on the surface of the degraded crater.  At the same time, the stereo images I posted seem to show not only a vertical face but also a curvature and depth to the layered units exposed on east walls enclosing the black feature.  So I'm leaning towards a collapse feature of some sort, perhaps related to the interaction of ground water with the more friable units of the layered strata.  Or it might even represent a second, later impact event that broke through the layered units.

The bottom line, in my opinion, is that there is insufficient resolution in the images released so far to make an assessment that is 100 percent accurate.

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[url=http://www.marsgeo.com/]http://www.marsgeo.com/[/url]

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: Anatolia trough & Mars karst topography

Changing my sig says enough, no?

Sigh. If only some other people would think that way... (Hoagland, yes, I'm talking about you  :laugh: )

I tend to use Occam's Razor, the chance of one of the rovers landing within driving distance of a big cave seems too implausible.

But of course, I'd looooove to be proven wrong.

aldo12xu

Member

From: Toronto, Canada

Registered: 2005-04-04

Posts: 31

Re: Anatolia trough & Mars karst topography

What a great compliment!  Thanks, Rxke.

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[url=http://www.marsgeo.com/]http://www.marsgeo.com/[/url]