Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T00:02:03.687Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Similar Ring Structures on Mars and Tibetan Plateau confirm recent tectonism on Martian Northern polar region

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2016

A. Anglés  and
Y. L. Li
A. Anglés
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong
Y. L. Li*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong
*
e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The polar regions of Mars feature layered deposits, some of which exist as enclosed zoning structures. These deposits raised strong interest since their discovery and still remain one of the most controversial features on Mars. Zoning structures that are enclosed only appear in the Northern polar region, where the disappearance of water bodies may have left behind huge deposits of evaporate salts. The origin of the layered deposits has been widely debated. Here we propose that the enclosed nature of the zoning structures indicates the result of recent tectonism. We compared similar structures at an analogue site located in the western Qaidam Basin of Tibetan Plateau, a unique tectonic setting with abundant saline deposits. The enclosed structures, which we term Ring Structures, in both the analogue site and in the Northern polar region of Mars, were formed by uplift induced pressurization and buoyancy of salts as the result of recent tectonic activity.

Keywords

hyper-arid climatelayered depositsMartian tectonismQaidam Basinsalt lakeTibetan Plateau
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 16 , Issue 4 , October 2017 , pp. 355 - 359
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Carr, M.H. (2006). The Surface of Mars. University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Chan, W., Cunfeng, Y., Haibing, L., Guangrong, T., Zhiming, S., Dongliang, L., Changqing, Y. & Jiawei, P. (2013). Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the western Qaidam Basin and its constrain on the growth of the northern Tibetan Plateau. Acta Petrol. Sin. 29, 2211–2222.Google Scholar
Clark, B.C. & Vanhart, D.C. (1981). The salts of Mars. Icarus 45, 370–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cutts, J.A. (1973). Nature and origin of layered deposits of the Martian polar regions. J. Geophys. Res. 78, 4231–4249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dewey, J.F., Shackleton, R.M., Chengfa, C. & Yiyin, S. (1988). The tectonic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A: Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 327, 379–413.Google Scholar
Di Achille, G. & Hynek, B.M. (2010). Ancient Ocean on Mars supported by global distribution of deltas and valleys. Nat. Geosci. 3, 459–463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fang, X., Zhang, W., Meng, Q., Gao, J., Wang, X., King, J., Song, C., Dai, S. & Miao, Y. (2007). High-resolution magnetostratigraphy of the Neogene Huaitoutala section in the eastern Qaidam Basin on the NE Tibetan Plateau, Qinghai Province, China and its implication on tectonic uplift of the NE Tibetan Plateau. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 258, 293–306.Google Scholar
Head, J.W., Mustard, J.F., Kreslavsky, M.A., Milliken, R.E. & Marchant, D.R. (2003). Recent ice ages on Mars. Nature 426, 797–802.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howard, A.D., Cutts, J.A. & Blasius, K.R. (1982). Stratigraphic relationships within Martian polar cap deposits. Icarus 50, 161–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hudec, M.R. & Jackson, M.P. (2007). Terra Infirma: understanding salt tectonics. Earth Sci. Rev. 82, 1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ivanov, A.B. & Muhleman, D.O. (2000). The role of sublimation for the formation of the northern ice cap: results from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter. Icarus 144, 436–448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, M. (1997). Conceptual Breakthrough in Salt Tectonics: A Historical Review, 1856–1993 . Report of Investigations, 246, 51 pp. Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas: Austin.Google Scholar
Jackson, M. & Talbot, C.J. (1991). A Glossary of Salt Tectonics. Geological Circular, 91–4, 44 pp. Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas: Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kargel, J.S. (2004). Mars, A Warmer, Wetter Planet. Springer–Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York.Google Scholar
Kong, W.G., Zheng, M.P., Kong, F.J. & Chen, W.X. (2014). Sulfate-bearing deposits at Dalangtan Playa and their implication for the formation and preservation of Martian salts. Am. Mineral. 99, 283–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milkovich, S.M. & Head, J.W. (2005). North polar cap of mars: polar layered deposit characterization and identification of a fundamental climate signal. J. Geophys. Res.: Planets 110, E01005, 1–21. doi:10.1029/2004JE002349.Google Scholar
Murray, B.C., Soderblom, L.A., Cutts, J.A., Sharp, R.P., Milton, D.J. & Leighton, R.B. (1972). Geological framework of the south polar region of Mars. Icarus 17, 328–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, F.M., Zreda, M.G., Ku, T.L., Luo, S., Huang, Q., Elmore, D., Kubic, P.W. & Sharma, P. (1993). 230Th/134U and 36Cl dating of evaporite deposits from the western Qaidam Basin, China: implications for glacial-period dust export from Central Asia. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 105, 1606–1616.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, G.P., Matthews, B., Bristow, C., Guerrieri, L. & Vetterlein, J. (2012). Possible evidence of paleomarsquakes from fallen boulder populations, Cerberus Fossae, Mars. J. Geophys. Res.: Planets 117, E02009, 1–17. doi:10.1029/2011JE003816.Google Scholar
Wang, A. & Zheng, M.P. (2009). Evaporative Salts from Saline Lakes on Tibet Plateau: an analog for salts on Mars. In 40th Lunar and Planetary Science Conf. Abstract, 1858.Google Scholar
Yin, A., Dang, Y.-Q., Zhang, M., Chen, X.-H. & Mcrivette, M.W. (2008). Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Qaidam basin and its surrounding regions (Part 3): structural geology, sedimentation, and regional tectonic reconstruction. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 120, 847–876.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zheng, M.P. (1997). An Introduction to Saline Lakes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.Google Scholar