P24B:
Mars Underground: Subsurface Waters, Diagenesis, Hydrothermal/Metamorphic Processes, and Their Importance for Planetary Evolution I

Submit an Abstract to this Session



Session ID#: 32308

Session Description:
Observations from orbiting and landed missions and hydrological modeling point to abundant water underground on early Mars over most parts of the planet. Orbital data indicate a wealth of mineralogic evidence for groundwater-fed lakes and playas, subsurface fluid circulation, and hydrothermal or metamorphic processes. In situ data at the MER and MSL landing sites provide evidence of multiple episodes of diagenesis and underground aqueous alteration of sedimentary rocks. Moreover, hydrological modeling predicts that subsurface water played an important role in the hydrological cycle, and geophysical modeling predicts this underground circulation could have affected early heat flow. Underground aquifers are also important as stable, long-lived habitable environments on early Mars. Here we seek contributions that describe the nature of water flow through underground aquifers as well as the consequences of such flow as preserved in the martian geologic record. Contributions from modeling or observations from missions and meteorite study are welcome.
Primary Convener:  Bethany L Ehlmann, California Institute of Technology, Geological and Planetary Sciences, Pasadena, CA, United States
Conveners:  Jeffrey C Andrews-Hanna, University of Arizona, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Tucson, United States and Marion Nachon, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States
Chairs:  Marion Nachon, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States, Bethany L Ehlmann, California Institute of Technology, Geological and Planetary Sciences, Pasadena, CA, United States and Jeffrey C Andrews-Hanna, University of Arizona, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Tucson, United States
OSPA Liaison:  Bethany L Ehlmann, California Institute of Technology, Geological and Planetary Sciences, Pasadena, CA, United States

Cross-Listed:
  • B - Biogeosciences
  • H - Hydrology
  • V - Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrology
Index Terms:

0450 Hydrothermal systems [BIOGEOSCIENCES]
5220 Hydrothermal systems and weathering on other planets [PLANETARY SCIENCES: ASTROBIOLOGY]
5419 Hydrology and fluvial processes [PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS]
8424 Hydrothermal systems [VOLCANOLOGY]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Understanding the Underground Hydrous Minerals on Mars: Stability Field, Phase Transitions, and Environmental Implications (261454)
Alian Wang, Washington University in St Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States, I-Ming Chou, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Sanya, China, Zongcheng Ling, Shandong University at Weihai, Weihai, China and Pablo Sobron, SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, United States
Episodic vein formation in Gale crater, Mars: evidence for an extended history of liquid water (Invited) (216701)
Rachel Emily Kronyak, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States, Christopher Fedo, University of Tennessee, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Knoxville, TN, United States, Steven Banham, Imperial College London, Department of Earth Science and Engineering, London, United Kingdom, Kenneth S Edgett, Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, CA, United States, Horton E Newsom, Univ New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States, Marion Nachon, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States and Linda C Kah, University of Tennesse, Knoxville, United States
Stratigraphic distribution of veins in the Murray and Stimson formations, Gale crater, Mars: Implications for ancient groundwater circulation (230348)
Marion Nachon1, Dawn Y Sumner2, Schuyler Rae Borges3, Kathryn Stack4, Nathaniel Stein5, Jessica A Watkins5, Steven Banham6, Dr. Frances Rivera-Hernandez, PhD1, Roger C Wiens7, Jonas l'Haridon8, William Rapin5 and Rachel E. Kronyak9, (1)University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States, (2)University of California, Davis, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Davis, United States, (3)University of Lawrence, Appleton, WI, United States, (4)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States, (5)California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (6)Imperial College London, Department of Earth Science and Engineering, London, United Kingdom, (7)Purdue University, West Lafayette, United States, (8)LPGN Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes, Nantes Cedex 03, France, (9)University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States
Hydrothermal Signatures at Gale Crater, Mars, and Possible In-Situ Formation of Tridymite (245170)
Albert S Yen1, Richard V Morris2, Ralf Gellert3, Jeffrey A Berger3, Brad Sutter4, Robert T Downs5, Thomas Bristow6, Allan H Treiman7, Douglas W Ming2, Cherie Achilles8, David Frederick Blake9, Steve Chipera10, Benton C Clark11, Patricia Craig12, Shaunna M Morrison13, Elizabeth B Rampe2, Mariek E Schmidt14, Susanne P Schwenzer15, Lucy M Thompson16, David T Vaniman17 and MSL Science Team, (1)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (2)NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States, (3)University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada, (4)Amentum, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, United States, (5)University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States, (6)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, United States, (7)Lunar & Planetary Inst, Houston, TX, United States, (8)University of Arizona, Geosciences, Tucson, AZ, United States, (9)NASA Ames Research Center, Exobiology Branch, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (10)Chesapeake Energy, Oklahoma City, OK, United States, (11)Space Science Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (12)Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, United States, (13)Carnegie Institution for Science Washington, Geophysical laboratory, Washington, DC, United States, (14)Brock University, St Catharines, ON, Canada, (15)Open University, AstrobiologyOU, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, (16)University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada, (17)Planetary Science Institute, Tuscon, United States
Preservation of Groundwater on Mars Depends on Preservation of an Icy Cryosphere. (Invited) (241125)
Robert E Grimm1,2, Michelle R Kirchoff3 and David E Stillman3, (1)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (2)Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, United States, (3)Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States
Late Noachian/Early Hesperian Ridge Network in Nili Fossae: Evidence for Water-Saturated Near-Surface Crust (258874)
John F Mustard, Brown University, Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Providence, United States and Alyssa Pascuzzo, Brown University, Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Providence, United States

See more of: Planetary Sciences