Field Studies of Crater Gradation in Gusev Crater and Meridiani Planum Using the Mars Exploration Rovers

摘要

The Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity investigated numerous craters since landing in Gusev crater (14.569 deg S, 175.473 deg E) and Meridiani Planum (1.946 deg S, 354.473 deg E) over the first 400 sols of their missions. Craters at both sites are simple structures and vary in size and preservation state. Comparing observed and expected pristine morphology and using process-specific gradational signatures around terrestrial craters as a template allows distinguishing gradation processes whose relative importance fundamentally differs from those responsible for most crater modification on the Earth.