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Regional Geology of the Hypanis Valles System, Mars
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  • Jacob Adler,
  • James F Bell,
  • Nicholas Hale Warner,
  • Eldar Zeev Noe Dobrea,
  • Tanya N Harrison
Jacob Adler
Georgia Tech

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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James F Bell
Arizona State University
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Nicholas Hale Warner
SUNY Geneseo
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Eldar Zeev Noe Dobrea
Planetary Science Institute
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Tanya N Harrison
Planet Federal
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Abstract

We present a geomorphic map of the Hypanis Valles watershed and a geomorphic map of the Hypanis deposit region at its terminus. We mapped these two regions at different scales: 1:2,000,000 for the catchment map (-5-10° N, 300-315° E) and 1:500,000 for the Hypanis deposit map (10-13.0° N, 313-316.5° E). Our mapping provides new morphologic insights beyond previous efforts which used lower spatial resolution data. We defined units based on morphology, albedo, thermal inertia, elevation, and spectral parameters. We propose that episodic volcanism and aqueous activity filled the Chryse basin from the early Noachian. Hypanis Valles was active during the Noachian, forming the Hypanis terminal deposits in the southern Chryse region. Hundreds of kilometer-sized mounds and cones stratigraphically post-date Hypanis fluvial deposition as these features appear to have erupted or effused through all other major map units. We propose sedimentary diapirism or mud volcanism may be responsible for these features, a hypothesis consistent with the compressional wrinkle ridge tectonism in a sedimentary basin. Future work could further investigate the formation of these cones and mounds and better assess their astrobiologic importance.
Mar 2022Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets volume 127 issue 3. 10.1029/2021JE006994