Early Mars possessed the most likely conditions for stable liquid water on the surface (and, by extension, for life), but it’s also the time period we know the least about. Many unusual geologic features on Mars lack terrestrial analogues, and their relationship to any hydrologic activity thus remains unexplained. Image via NASA.
In my work on martian geomorphology, I focus on two geologic processes we believe were operating on early Mars - volcanism and glaciation. The interaction between these two large-scale processes may have formed some of the unusual Martian morphologic features that remain unexplained today.
I’ve focused on the evolution of the fretted terrain and the unusual features of the Arabia Terra plateau along the dichotomy boundary to determine when and how material was removed to create the distinctive morphology observed today. Relevant abstracts can be found here, here and here. Image processed from CTX data.