DEBRIS FLOW FANS AND PERMAFROST LANDFORMS ON SVALBARD (NORWAY): TERRESTRIAL ANALOGUES FOR MARTIAN MID-LATITUDE PERIGLACIAL LANDSCAPES.

• Many young landforms on Mars that were probably formed by exogenic processes show a latitude- dependent geographic distribution. They include surface mantling, lobate debris aprons, lineated valley fill, and concentric crater fill, viscous flow features, gullies, and patterned ground. Collectively, these landforms are hypothesized to represent the surface records of Martian ice ages that were induced by astronomical forcing and associated climate changes. Previous studies often considered just one of the features in isolation (e.g., gullies), without taking into account the geomorphologic context. A more comprehensive investigation of the full assemblage of landforms (landscape analysis), however, has the potential to reduce the ambiguity in interpreting landforms (the problem of equifinality, e.g., in the case of pingos), and to reveal the evolution of the climatic environment in more detail. Here we present permafrost landforms of Svalbard (Norway) as useful terrestrial analogues for the suite of possible periglacial landforms that are typically found at mid-latitudes on Mars. We build on our previous investigations of gullies and fans, and include a number of classical periglacial landforms (patterned ground, rock glaciers, pingos) that all have close morphological analogues on Mars. Based on this comparison, we propose an evolutionary scenario which helps to understand the sequential formation of the Martian landforms into their present state.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Naturgeografi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Physical Geography (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Geologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Geology (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Mars

Svalbard

periglacial

geomorphology

permafrost

gully

patterned ground

pingo

rock glacier

polygons

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