P51E-01
First Self-Consistent, Two-Layer Model of Near-Surface Water-Equivalent-Hydrogen on Mars

Friday, 18 December 2015: 08:00
2009 (Moscone West)
William C Feldman, Planetary Science Institute Los Alamos, Los Alamos, NM, United States, Asmin Pathare, Planetary Science Institute, Pasadena, CA, United States, Thomas H Prettyman, Planetary Science Institute, Albuquerque, NM, United States and Sylvestre Maurice, IRAP, Toulouse, France
Abstract:
This study uses 9.5 years of Mars Odyssey Neutron Spectrometer (MONS) data [1]. We have used the epithermal and fast neutron count rates to determine the water-equivalent-hydrogen (WEH) content of an upper layer, Wup, having thickness D. The “crossover” technique we utilized is an improvement over previous work [2,3]. We then used Monte Carlo simulated grids of epithermal and thermal count rates spanning Wup = 1% to 15% [4] to determine the WEH content, Wdn, of a semi-infinite lower layer buried at depth, D. We also advance upon previous work by using improved deconvolution methods to reduce spatial blurring in fast and epithermal maps [5]. The resultant count-rates were digitized into a 2°x2°cylindrical grid for all WEH computations.

Two sets of WEH maps will be shown. The first uses the one-layer model developed initially by Feldman et al. [6]. Comparison of the undeconvolved and deconvolved versions clearly illustrates the improvement obtained by deconvolution. We will also present the full two layer maps of Wup, Wdn, and D for the deconvolved data sets, which show: 1) contrary to our previous preliminary mapping [3], the fresh icy mid-latitude craters identified by [7] are NOT exclusively found in regions with average Wdn values that exceed the pore-filling threshold for regolith ice; 2) a maximum Wdn of about 80% by weight at the Phoenix site; 3) an isolated Wdn maximum just east of Gale crater that is centered on Aeolis Mensae; 4) a resolved Wdn maximum that overlays the Orsen Wells crater on Xanthe Terra; 5) Wdn local maxima that hug the western flanks of Olympus Mons and Elysium Mons, and 6) several Wdn maxima that cover Arabia Terra. We will present and interpret regional maps of all of these features.

Refs: [1] Maurice et al. JGR, 2011; [2] Feldman et al. JGR, 2011; [3] Pathare et al. 8th Mars Conf., 2014; [4] Prettyman et al. JGR, 2004 [5] Prettyman et al. JGR, 2009; [6] Feldman et al. JGR, 2004; [7] Dundas et al. JGR, 2014.

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