Douglas J. Jerolmack

Aeolian processes at the Mars Exploration Rover Meridiani Planum landing site

The martian surface is a natural laboratory for testing our understanding of the physics of aeolian (wind-related) processes in an environment different from that of Earth. Martian surface markings and atmospheric opacity are time-variable, indicating that fine particles at the surface are mobilized regularly by wind. Regolith (unconsolidated surface material) at the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunitys landing site has been affected greatly by wind, which has created and reoriented bedforms, sorted grains, and eroded bedrock. Aeolian features here preserve a unique record of changing wind direction and wind strength. Here we present an in situ examination of a martian bright wind streak, which provides evidence consistent with a previously proposed formational model for such features. We also show that a widely used criterion for distinguishing between aeolian saltation- and suspension-dominated grain behaviour is different on Mars, and that estimated wind friction speeds between 2 and 3u2009mu2009s-1, most recently from the northwest, are associated with recent global dust storms, providing ground truth for climate model predictions.

Soils of Eagle Crater and Meridiani Planum at the Opportunity Rover Landing Site

The soils at the Opportunity site are fine-grained basaltic sands mixed with dust and sulfate-rich outcrop debris. Hematite is concentrated in spherules eroded from the strata. Ongoing saltation exhumes the spherules and their fragments, concentrating them at the surface. Spherules emerge from soils coated, perhaps from subsurface cementation, by salts. Two types of vesicular clasts may represent basaltic sand sources. Eolian ripples, armored by well-sorted hematite-rich grains, pervade Meridiani Planum. The thickness of the soil on the plain is estimated to be about a meter. The flatness and thin cover suggest that the plain may represent the original sedimentary surface.

Spatial grain size sorting in eolian ripples and estimation of wind conditions on planetary surfaces: Application to Meridiani Planum, Mars

The landscape seen by the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Opportunity at Meridiani Planum is dominated by eolian (wind-blown) ripples with concentrated surface lags of hematitic spherules and fragments. These ripples exhibit profound spatial grain size sorting, with well-sorted coarse-grained crests and poorly sorted, generally finer-grained troughs. These ripples were the most common bed form encountered by Opportunity in its traverse from Eagle Crater to Endurance Crater. Field measurements from White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, show that such coarse-grained ripples form by the different transport modes of coarse- and fine-grain fractions. On the basis of our field study, and simple theoretical and experimental considerations, we show how surface deposits of coarse-grained ripples can be used to place tight constraints on formative wind conditions on planetary surfaces. Activation of Meridiani Planum coarse-grained ripples requires a wind velocity of 70 m/s (at a reference elevation of 1 m above the bed). From images by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) of reversing dust streaks, we estimate that modern surface winds reach a velocity of at least 40 m/s and hence may occasionally activate these ripples. The presence of hematite at Meridiani Planum is ultimately related to formation of concretions during aqueous diagenesis in groundwater environments; however, the eolian concentration of these durable particles may have led to the recognition from orbit of this environmentally significant landing site.

A unified model for subaqueous bed form dynamics

[1]xa0Bed form evolution remains dynamic even in the special case of steady, uniform flow. Data from the sandy, braided North Loup River, Nebraska, show that roughness features on the channel bottom display a statistical steady state and robust scaling that are maintained through the collective interactions of transient (short-lived) bed forms. Motivated by such field data, and laboratory observations of bed form growth, we develop a nonlinear stochastic surface evolution model for the topography of bed load dominated sandy rivers in which instantaneous sediment flux explicitly depends on local elevation and slope. This model quantitatively reproduces laboratory observations of initial growth and saturation of bed forms from a flat surface, and also generates long-term dynamical behavior characteristic of natural systems. We argue that the variability in geometry and kinematics of bed forms in steady flow, and the existence of roughness at all wavelengths up to the largest dunes, are a consequence of the nonlinear relationship between sediment flux and topography, subject to noise.

A minimum time for the formation of Holden Northeast fan, Mars

[1]xa0The recently discovered deposits of a channelized fan located northeast of Holden Crater preserve a history of vertical and lateral accretion and avulsion of many channels, indicating water flowed freely across the surface of the fan during its construction. These sedimentary deposits, however, do not unambiguously discriminate between a deltaic or purely riverine origin for the feature. By using a numerical model describing fan construction solely by river channels, we estimate a minimum formation time of several decades to centuries. A minimum value for the total volume of transporting fluid required to construct the fan is modest, 900 km3, and may not have required precipitation.

Interactions between bed forms : Topography, turbulence, and transport

[1]xa0Results are presented examining the interaction between two sandy bed forms under low–sediment transport conditions in a small laboratory flume. The initial artificially made bed forms were out of equilibrium with the flow field. Temporal evolution of bed forms was monitored using time-lapse photography in order to characterize bed form adjustment to the imposed flow. Velocity measurements were collected using an acoustic Doppler velocimeter to characterize both mean flow and turbulence associated with different bed form geometries. Sandy bed forms all had identical initial geometries; however, the initial distance between bed form crests was varied between experiments. Overall deformation of the bed varied as a function of initial bed form spacing; however, bed forms evolved unpredictably as periods of relatively slow change were punctuated by periods of rapidly changing geometry. Subtle changes in bed form trough geometry were found to have a strong influence on turbulence and therefore sediment transport. Comparison with field studies suggests that the mechanisms described herein are active in natural systems.

Frozen dynamics of migrating bedforms

Here we show how a continuum granular flow model can replicate realistic self-organizing subaqueous bedforms, and we explore how a record of this dynamic topography is transferred into the substrate where it can be fossilized. Modeled bedform behavior is quantitatively compared to laboratory and field data. Sediment scouring and deposition by migrating bedforms produce sets of partially preserved bedforms recording nonlinear behavior at the sediment-fluid interface. Model results show the importance of spatial and temporal variations in bedform size and migration rate to the generation of sets. Addition of net bed aggradation to modeled bedforms allows us to explore the preservation of topography under a wide range of depositional conditions. We present new relationships among aggradation rate, bedform migration rate, and set thickness. Variability of set thickness is shown to be a product of the competition between bed aggradation and bedform migration rates. These results show how using the entire distribution of set thickness for ancient strata can refine estimates of the formative paleoenvironmental conditions.

Palaeoclimatology: Formation of Precambrian sediment ripples

Arising from: P. A. Allen & P. F. Hoffman 433, 123–127 (2005); Allen and Hoffman reply. Quantitative estimation of environmental properties using sedimentary structures preserved in rocks is complicated by the fact that some relationships between the fluid flow, sediment transport and bed topography are not unique. Allen and Hoffman propose that large, wave-generated sand ripples (orbital ripples) in Precambrian rocks were generated by sustained, extreme winds driven by rapid climate change after termination of the Marinoan glaciation. We show here that these features could equally well have formed under normal storm conditions in tens of metres of water. We therefore contend that the ripples do not provide direct evidence for a climatic transit after the break-up of a snowball-Earths global ice cover.