Martian pedestal craters: Marginal sublimation pits implicate a climate-related formation mechanism

Latitude dependence of Martian pedestal craters: Evidence for a sublimation-driven formation mechanism

[1] We report on the results of a survey to document and characterize pedestal craters on Mars equatorward of 60 N and 65 S latitude. The identification of 2696 pedestal craters reveals a strong latitude dependence, with the vast majority found poleward of 33 N and 40 S. This latitudinal extent is correlated with many climate indicators consistent with the presence of an ice-rich substrate and ...

Pedestal Craters at High Latitudes on Mars: Marginal Sublimation Pits Impli- Cate Ice and Snow in Pedestal Crater Substrate

Preservation of layered paleodeposits in high-latitude pedestal craters on Mars

0019-1035/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier Inc. A doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.03.029 ⇑ Corresponding author. Fax: +1 401 863 3978. E-mail address: [email protected] (S.J. Kadi An outstanding question in Mars’ climate history is whether or not pedestal craters represent the armored remnants of ice-rich paleodeposits. We address this question using new high-resolution images; in a survey of sev...

Pedestal Crater Distribution and Implications for a New Model of Formation

Introduction: Pedestal (Pd) craters, where both the crater and ejecta blanket are perched above the immediate surrounding terrain, are unique to Mars [1] (Fig. 1). Early attempts to identify a formation mechanism for these phenomena relied primarily on deflation: eolian erosion removes the surrounding materials , leaving the crater and ejecta elevated. An ar-moring agent of uncertain origin pre...

Impacts into non-polar ice-rich paleodeposits on Mars: Excess ejecta craters, perched craters and pedestal craters as clues to Amazonian climate history

We compare three previously independently studied crater morphologies – excess ejecta craters, perched craters, and pedestal craters – each of which has been proposed to form from impacts into an ice-rich surface layer. Our analysis identifies the specific similarities and differences between the crater types; the commonalities provide significant evidence for a genetic relationship among the m...