Geological Record of Water and Wind Processes on Mars as Observed by the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera

Abstract

This review paper summarizes the observations and results of the Mars Express Mission and its application in the analysis of geological processes and landforms on Mars during the last 20 years. The Mars Express observations provided an extended data base allowing a comparative evaluation of different geological surface landforms and their time-based delimitation. High-resolution imagery and digital elevations models on a local to regional scale and spectral measurements are the basis for geological analyses of water-related surface processes on Mars. This includes the nature and discharges of valley networks, formation timescale of deltas, volumina of sedimentary deposits as well as estimating the age of geological units by crater size–frequency distribution measurements. Both the quantifying of geological processes and the determination of absolute model ages allows to constraint the evolution of Martian water-related activity in space and time. Comparative age estimation of fluvial, glacial, and lacustrine deposits, as well as their timing and episodicity, has revealed the nature and evolution of the Martian surface hydrological cycle. Fluvial and lacustrine activity phases are spread over a time span from Noachian until Amazonian periods, but detailed studies show that they have been interrupted by multiple and long-lasting phases of cessation and quiescent. In addition, evidence of glacial activity shows discrete phases of enhanced intensity correlating with increased spin-axis obliquity amplitude. The episodicity of geological processes, erosion, deposition, and glaciation on Mars demonstrate a close correlation between individual surface processes and endogenic activity as well as spin-axis/orbital variations and changing climate condition.