1. A probable ancient nearshore zone in southern Utopia on Mars unveiled from observations at the Zhurong landing area
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Bo Wu, Jie Dong, Yiran Wang, Wei Rao, Zezhou Sun, Sergey Krasilnikov, Zhaojin Li, Zhiyun Tan, Zeyu Chen, Chuang Wang, Mikhail Ivanov, Jiaming Zhu, Wai Chung Liu, Long Chen, and Hongliang Li
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Mars ,Utopia planitia ,Nearshore zone ,Zhurong ,Tianwen-1 ,Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract The Chinese Mars rover Zhurong successfully landed in southern Utopia Planitia on Mars in May 2021. Previous research suggested a Hesperian ocean may have existed in the northern lowland on Mars. Recent research observed water-related features at the Zhurong landing site from in situ data. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive geomorphological analysis of the landing area using remote sensing data, supplemented by in situ observations, and unveiled features consistent with the existence of a nearshore zone in southern Utopia. Different types of water-related geomorphological features were separated by specific topographic contours, suggesting different types of marine environments. The area was subdivided into a foreshore highland-lowland transition unit, a shallow marine unit and a deep marine unit. In situ observations including sedimentary deposit rocks, water-related lamination features, and subsurface sedimentary layers, also indicate past water activities. Results suggested an evolution scenario of the nearshore zone in southern Utopia: (1) Flooding of the Utopia Planitia in Late Noachian around 3.65–3.68 Ga reached the foreshore unit; (2) formation of the shallow and deep marine units after the flooding was completed by about 3.5 Ga and 3.42 Ga in Early Hesperian, respectively; (3) gradual loss of subsurface volatiles during the Amazonian epoch.
- Published
- 2024
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