Base de données de recherche des TNO

Régions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region

étiquettes: topography, Mars, pingo, cold-climate processes, landscape model

Objectif(s): Pingo-like mounds over-run by cracks and surrounded by polygonal patterned ground have been identified on Mars. Often these mounds are located in the midst of impact craters. The collection of these features is suggestive of the pingos and drained lake landscape of the Tuktoyaktuk peninsula. In recent years, the relevance of Earth-based analogues in planetary science has become increasingly valuable. Arctic landscapes are of particular interest for the Mars planetary science community. It is thought that Mars could have been warmer and more supportive of cold-climate processes in the past. As such, the Tuktoyaktuk peninsula could represent an important window of understanding on Martian landscape processes long past. It is hoped that the collaboration between Concordia University and the US Geological Survey in studying the Tuktoyaktuk landscape will bring attention to the peninsula as an important area for Mars research. Specifically, the objectives for the first of a planned multi-year program are; 1) to broaden the understanding of cold-climate landscape processes; and 2) collect field data to solidify a hypothesis that connects drained lakes and pingo formation on Mars.