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SURF@JPL: Announcements of Opportunity
Announcements of Opportunity are posted by JPL technical staff for the SURF@JPL program. Each AO indicates whether or not it is open to non-Caltech students. If an AO is NOT open to non-Caltech students, please DO NOT contact the mentor.
Announcements of Opportunity are posted as they are received. Please check back regularly for new AO submissions!
**Students applying for JPL projects should complete a SURF@JPL application instead of a "regular" SURF application.
**Students pursuing opportunities at JPL must be U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents.
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| Project: |
Mapping of Martian Araneiforms and their Environments
(JPL AO No. 14199)
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| Disciplines: | Planetary Science, Geomorphology | ||||||||
| Mentor: |
Lauren Keown,
(JPL),
Lauren.McKeown@jpl.nasa.gov, |
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| Mentor URL: | https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/lauren-mc-keown/ (opens in new window) | ||||||||
| Background: | Araneiforms are ~meter-wide tortuous branched negative topography features that are found in the Martian south polar regions. Three main types of araneiforms have been identified: (1) small furrows (meters-long isolated troughs) that form and disappear annually along the edges of many dune margins and crests [Bourke & Cranford 2011; Bourke 2013]; (2) the enigmatic ‘spiders’ which consist of usually radial networks of troughs, spanning diameters from meters up to 1 km) that do not appear to grow in the present day [Piqueux et al. 2003; Portyankina et al. 2017]; and (3) a few dendritic features observed to form over multiple Mars years [Portyankina et al., 2017] with complexity between that of the furrows and spiders. All of these features have been proposed to be formed due to basal sublimation of the seasonal CO2 ice, with gas scouring troughs in the substrate as it escapes through a point of weakness in the ice [Mc Keown et al., 2021]. Starting from the assumption that all of these araneiforms are forming through the same general process, our science research group will develop and test hypotheses about how specific environmental conditions drive their formation. | ||||||||
| Description: | The student intern will work with Dr. Lauren Mc Keown within Dr. Serina Diniega’s research group. Student work will primarily be to map and gather measurements of araneiforms and their local environments, based on inspection and analysis of Martian orbital datasets within JMARS (a free GIS program). These measurements will be used to divide the features into categories based on shape, size, and activity. Then we will check for correlations between categories and specific geology/topography and winter-time frost conditions. | ||||||||
| References: |
1) JMARS: https://jmars.asu.edu/ 2) Bourke, M.C., 2013. The formation of sand furrows by cryo-venting on Martian dunes. Presented at 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Ab. 2919. 3) Piqueux, S., S. Byrne, & M.I. Richardson, 2003. Sublimation of Mars's southern seasonal CO2 ice cap and the formation of spiders. J. Geophys. Res., 108 (E8), 5084, doi:10.1029/2002JE002007. 4) Portyankina, G., C.J. Hansen, & K.-M. Aye, 2017. Present-day erosion of Martian polar terrain by the seasonal CO2 jets. Icarus 282, 93–103, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2016.09.007. 5) Mc Keown, L.E., J.N. McElwaine, M.C. Bourke, M.E. Sylvest, M.R. Patel, 2021. The formation of araneiforms by carbon dioxide venting and vigorous sublimation dynamics under martian atmospheric pressure. Scientific Reports, 11:6445. |
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| Student Requirements: | Most of the work will involve close visual inspection of spacecraft-acquired images of Mars. Thus, this work is appropriate for students new to research; with an appreciation for detail-oriented, somewhat monotonous, mostly brain-exercising work; and an interest in geology and/or planetary science and in seeing how a research project is designed. This project does not require specific background knowledge or skills, beyond basic computer comfort. However, a strong desire to learn and preferably an interest in planetary science or geomorphology is preferred. When permitted by time and the student’s skills, work can be expanded to incorporate the student’s specific interests (such as simple data analysis). The mentor welcomes applications from students from diverse backgrounds and skill sets. | ||||||||
| Location / Safety: | Project building and/or room locations: . Student will need special safety training: . | ||||||||
| Programs: |
This AO can be done under the following programs:
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