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2003•Lunar and Planetary Science ConferenceRequires access

Evidence for Buried "Pre-Noachian" Crust Pre-Dating the Oldest Observed Surface Units on Mars

Herbert V. Frey, Erzsebet Frey, William K. HARTMANN, Kenneth L. Tanaka

Open publisher page 12 citations

Abstract

MOLA gridded data shows clear evidence for Quasi-Circular Depressions not visible on images in Early Noachian (EN) terrain units on Mars. We suggest these are buried impact basins that pre-date the superimposed craters whose high density makes these EN units the oldest visible at the surface of Mars. There is crust older than the oldest visible terrain units on Mars, and these EN units cannot date from 4.6 BYA. These and other Noa-chian units have similar total (visible + buried) crater retention ages, suggesting a common pre-Noachian crustal age OR crater saturation beyond which we cannot see.

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What this paper is about

MOLA gridded data shows clear evidence for Quasi-Circular Depressions not visible on images in Early Noachian (EN) terrain units on Mars. We suggest these are buried impact basins that pre-date the superimposed craters whose high density makes these EN units the oldest visible at the surface of Mars. There is crust older than the oldest visible terrain units on Mars, and these EN units cannot date from 4.6 BYA. These and other Noa-chian units have similar total (visible + buried) crater retention ages, suggesting a common pre-Noachian crustal age OR crater saturation beyond which we cannot see.

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Available abstract

MOLA gridded data shows clear evidence for Quasi-Circular Depressions not visible on images in Early Noachian (EN) terrain units on Mars. We suggest these are buried impact basins that pre-date the superimposed craters whose high density makes these EN units the oldest visible at the surface of Mars. There is crust older than the oldest visible terrain units on Mars, and these EN units cannot date from 4.6 BYA. These and other Noa-chian units have similar total (visible + buried) crater retention ages, suggesting a common pre-Noachian crustal age OR crater saturation beyond which we cannot see.

Key concepts: Noachian, Impact crater, Geology, Hesperian, Mars Exploration Program, Crust, Terrain, Geomorphology

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