@article{ac81b676238a4a12a8a51ea0f03d9f72,
title = "Aeolian disruption and reworking of TARs at the Zhurong rover field site, southern Utopia Planitia, Mars",
abstract = "Aeolian bedforms are the signatures of wind interaction with unconsolidated, granular surface materials. Transverse aeolian ridges (TARs) are widely distributed on Mars but their formation remains enigmatic. China's Zhurong rover explored four crescent-shaped TARs, with two horns generally facing south, during the first 107 sols in southern Utopia Planitia, Mars. Rover images show that these bedforms have distinct light and dark variations on their surfaces that likely result from the combination of a bimodal distribution of particle sizes and the crust formed by the accumulation of aeolian dust. Two of these bedforms exhibit erosional forms on their west sides, where megaripples facing in a direction different from that of the crescentic bedforms they disrupt were created by more recent winds from the northeast. Differing erosional configurations of each of these bedforms in close proximity to each other are probably related to the angle between the bedform crest and the wind direction, and may further suggest that erosion of TARs starts from their two flanks. Secondary ridges of TARs widely recognized on Mars could be megaripples formed during this erosion process. At the Zhurong landing site, TARs degraded into megaripples, suggesting that they might share similar formation and evolution mechanisms there and elsewhere on Mars.",
keywords = "aeolian process, Mars, megaripples, TARs, Zhurong rover",
author = "Yu Lu and Edgett, {Kenneth S.} and Bo Wu and Yiran Wang and Zhaojin Li and Michael, {Gregory G.} and Hezi Yizhaq and Qi Jin and Yunzhao Wu",
note = "Funding Information: We appreciate the kind help of the editor William B. McKinnon and careful reviews of Matt Balme, Mackenzie Day and an anonymous reviewer. We thank the whole Tianwen-1 team for their efforts in making this mission a great success. We also thank the Ground Research and Application System of China's Lunar and Planetary Exploration Program for providing the Tianwen-1 data. We appreciate helpful comments from Zhiwei Xu and Simone Silvestro. This work was supported by the Pre-research project on Civil Aerospace Technologies (Grant No. D020102) funded by China National Space Administration (CNSA), the Key Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ZDBS-SSW-TLC00106), and Minor Planet Foundation of Purple Mountain Observatory. Bo Wu was supported by grants from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (RIF Project No: R5043-19, Project No: PolyU 15210520). Funding Information: We appreciate the kind help of the editor William B. McKinnon and careful reviews of Matt Balme, Mackenzie Day and an anonymous reviewer. We thank the whole Tianwen-1 team for their efforts in making this mission a great success. We also thank the Ground Research and Application System of China's Lunar and Planetary Exploration Program for providing the Tianwen-1 data. We appreciate helpful comments from Zhiwei Xu and Simone Silvestro. This work was supported by the Pre-research project on Civil Aerospace Technologies (Grant No. D020102 ) funded by China National Space Administration (CNSA), the Key Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences ( ZDBS-SSW-TLC00106 ), and Minor Planet Foundation of Purple Mountain Observatory . Bo Wu was supported by grants from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (RIF Project No: R5043-19 , Project No: PolyU 15210520 ). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 Elsevier B.V.",
year = "2022",
month = oct,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117785",
language = "English",
volume = "595",
journal = "Earth and Planetary Science Letters",
issn = "0012-821X",
publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",
}