Geology topics

D.T. Britt

Publications and source records attributed to D.T. Britt.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2004

9969 Braille: Deep Space 1 infrared spectroscopy, geometric albedo, and classification

Spectra of Asteroid 9969 Braille in the 1.25-2.6 ??m region returned by the Deep Space 1 (DS1) Mission show a ???10% absorption band centered at 2 ??m, and a reflectance peak at 1.6 ??m. Analysis of these features suggest that the composition of Braille is roughly equal parts pyroxene and olivine. Its spectrum between 0.4 and 2.5 ??m suggests that it is most closely related to the Q taxonomic type of asteroid. The spectrum also closely matches that of the ordinary chondrites, the most common type of terrestrial meteorite. The geometric albedo of Braille is unusually high (pv = 0.34), which is also consistent with its placement within the rarer classes of stony asteroids, and which suggests it has a relatively fresh, unweathered surface, perhaps due to a recent collision. ?? 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Icarus↗

USGS2004

Imaging Borrelly

The nucleus, coma, and dust jets of short-period Comet 19P/Borrelly were imaged from the Deep Space 1 spacecraft during its close flyby in September 2001. A prominent jet dominated the near-nucleus coma and emanated roughly normal to the long axis of nucleus from a broad central cavity. We show it to have remained fixed in position for more than 34 hr, much longer than the 26-hr rotation period. This confirms earlier suggestions that it is co-aligned with the rotation axis. From a combination of fitting the nucleus light curve from approach images and the nucleus' orientation from stereo images at encounter, we conclude that the sense of rotation is right-handed around the main jet vector. The inferred rotation pole is approximately perpendicular to the long axis of the nucleus, consistent with a simple rotational state. Lacking an existing IAU comet-specific convention but applying a convention provisionally adopted for asteroids, we label this the north pole. This places the sub-solar latitude at ∼60° N at the time of the perihelion with the north pole in constant sunlight and thus receiving maximum average insolation.

Icarus↗

USGS2002

Observations of comet 19P/Borrelly by the miniature integrated camera and spectrometer aboard deep space 1

The nucleus of the Jupiter-family comet 19P/Borrelly was closely observed by the Miniature Integrated Camera and Spectrometer aboard the Deep Space 1 spacecraft on 22 September 2001. The 8-kilometer-long body is highly variegated on a scale of 200 meters, exhibiting large albedo variations (0.01 to 0.03) and complex geologic relationships. Short-wavelength infrared spectra (1.3 to 2.6 micrometers) show a slope toward the red and a hot, dry surface (≤345 kelvin, with no trace of water ice or hydrated minerals), consistent with ∼10% or less of the surface actively sublimating. Borrelly's coma exhibits two types of dust features: fans and highly collimated jets. At encounter, the near-nucleus coma was dominated by a prominent dust jet that resolved into at least three smaller jets emanating from a broad basin in the middle of the nucleus. Because the major dust jet remained fixed in orientation, it is evidently aligned near the rotation axis of the nucleus.

Science↗

USGS2000

Mineralogic and compositional properties of Martian soil and dust: results from Mars Pathfinder

Mars Pathfinder obtained multispectral, elemental, magnetic, and physical measurements of soil and dust at the Sagan Memorial Station during the course of its 83 sol mission. We describe initial results from these measurements, concentrating on multispectral and elemental data, and use these data, along with previous Viking, SNC meteorite, and telescopic results, to help constrain the origin and evolution of Martian soil and dust. We find that soils and dust can be divided into at least eight distinct spectral units, based on parameterization of Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) 400 to 1000 nm multispectral images. The most distinctive spectral parameters for soils and dust are the reflectivity in the red, the red/blue reflectivity ratio, the near-IR spectral slope, and the strength of the 800 to 1000 nm absorption feature. Most of the Pathfinder spectra are consistent with the presence of poorly crystalline or nanophase ferric oxide(s), sometimes mixed with small but varying degrees of well-crystalline ferric and ferrous phases. Darker soil units appear to be coarser-grained, compacted, and/or mixed with a larger amount of dark ferrous materials relative to bright soils. Nanophase goethite, akaganeite, schwertmannite, and maghemite are leading candidates for the origin of the absorption centered near 900 nm in IMP spectra. The ferrous component in the soil cannot be well-constrained based on IMP data. Alpha proton X-ray spectrometer (APXS) measurements of six soil units show little variability within the landing site and show remarkable overall similarity to the average Viking-derived soil elemental composition. Differences exist between Viking and Pathfinder soils, however, including significantly higher S and Cl abundances and lower Si abundances in Viking soils and the lack of a correlation between Ti and Fe in Pathfinder soils. No significant linear correlations were observed between IMP spectral properties and APXS elemental chemistry. Attempts at constraining the mineralogy of soils and dust using normative calculations involving mixtures of smectites and silicate and oxide minerals did not yield physically acceptable solutions. We attempted to use the Pathfinder results to constrain a number of putative soil and dust formation scenarios, including palagonitization and acid-fog weathering. While the Pathfinder soils cannot be chemically linked to the Pathfinder rocks by palagonitization, this study and McSween et al. [1999] suggest that palagonitic alteration of a Martian basaltic rock, plus mixture with a minor component of locally derived andesitic rock fragments, could be consistent with the observed soil APXS and IMP properties.

Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets↗

USGS1999

Digital mapping of the Mars Pathfinder landing site: Design, acquisition, and derivation of cartographic products for science applications

The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) acquired more than 16,000 images and provided panoramic views of the surface of Mars at the Mars Pathfinder landing site in Ares Vallis. This paper describes the stereoscopic, multispectral IMP imaging sequences and focuses on their use for digital mapping of the landing site and for deriving cartographic products to support science applications of these data. Two‐dimensional cartographic processing of IMP data, as performed via techniques and specialized software developed for ISIS (the U.S. Geological Survey image processing software package), is emphasized. Cartographic processing of IMP data includes ingestion, radiometric correction, establishment of geometric control, coregistration of multiple bands, reprojection, and mosaicking. Photogrammetric processing, an integral part of this cartographic work which utilizes the three‐dimensional character of the IMP data, supplements standard processing with geometric control and topographic information [ Kirk et al. , this issue]. Both cartographic and photogrammetric processing are required for producing seamless image mosaics and for coregistering the multispectral IMP data. Final, controlled IMP cartographic products include spectral cubes, panoramic (360° azimuthal coverage) and planimetric (top view) maps, and topographic data, to be archived on four CD‐ROM volumes. Uncontrolled and semicontrolled versions of these products were used to support geologic characterization of the landing site during the nominal and extended missions. Controlled products have allowed determination of the topography of the landing site and environs out to ∼60 m, and these data have been used to unravel the history of large‐ and small‐scale geologic processes which shaped the observed landing site. We conclude by summarizing several lessons learned from cartographic processing of IMP data.

Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets↗

USGS1999

Overview of the Mars Pathfinder Mission: Launch through landing, surface operations, data sets, and science results

Mars Pathfinder successfully landed at Ares Vallis on July 4, 1997, deployed and navigated a small rover about 100 m clockwise around the lander, and collected data from three science instruments and ten technology experiments. The mission operated for three months and returned 2.3 Gbits of data, including over 16,500 lander and 550 rover images, 16 chemical analyses of rocks and soil, and 8.5 million individual temperature, pressure and wind measurements. Path‐finder is the best known location on Mars, having been clearly identified with respect to other features on the surface by correlating five prominent horizon features and two small craters in lander images with those in high‐resolution orbiter images and in inertial space from two‐way ranging and Doppler tracking. Tracking of the lander has fixed the spin pole of Mars, determined the precession rate since Viking 20 years ago, and indicates a polar moment of inertia, which constrains a central metallic core to be between 1300 and ∼2000 km in radius. Dark rocks appear to be high in silica and geochemically similar to anorogenic andesites; lighter rocks are richer in sulfur and lower in silica, consistent with being coated with various amounts of dust. Rover and lander images show rocks with a variety of morphologies, fabrics and textures, suggesting a variety of rock types are present. Rounded pebbles and cobbles on the surface as well as rounded bumps and pits on some rocks indicate these rocks may be conglomerates (although other explanations are also possible), which almost definitely require liquid water to form and a warmer and wetter past. Air‐borne dust is composed of composite silicate particles with a small fraction of a highly magnetic mineral, interpreted to be most likely maghemite; explanations suggest iron was dissolved from crustal materials during an active hydrologic cycle with maghemite freeze dried onto silicate dust grains. Remote sensing data at a scale of a kilometer or greater and an Earth analog correctly predicted a rocky plain safe for landing and roving with a variety of rocks deposited by catstrophic floods, which are relatively dust free. The surface appears to have changed little since it formed billions of years ago, with the exception that eolian activity may have deflated the surface by ∼3–7 cm, sculpted wind tails, collected sand into dunes, and eroded ventifacts (fluted and grooved rocks). Pathfinder found a dusty lower atmosphere, early morning water ice clouds, and morning near‐surface air temperatures that changed abruptly with time and height. Small scale vortices, interpreted to be dust devils, were observed repeatedly in the afternoon by the meteorology instruments and have been imaged.

Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets↗

USGS1999

Observations of Phobos, Deimos, and bright stars with the Imager for Mars Pathfinder

The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was used to observe several objects during the Martian night. The satellites, Phobos and Deimos, were observed on two occasions each, through the IMP geological filters covering the wavelength range 440 nm to 1 μm. The observations were converted to geometric albedo using triaxial ellipsoid models of the satellites and phase functions derived from Viking Orbiter images. The spectral slopes over the full wavelength range were 7.9(±0.5)% (100 nm) −1 and 9.6(±0.6)% (100 nm) −1 , respectively, referenced to 600 nm. In the Deimos spectra, some evidence for decreased reddening toward the trailing hemisphere was found. The geometric albedoes of Phobos and Deimos were found to be 0.065 (±0.010) and 0.068 (±0.009), respectively, averaged over 440 and 600 nm, in good agreement with previous measurements. The nighttime optical depth was investigated using observations of stars. A mean value of 0.56 (±0.09) was determined from measurements at different airmass. A possible maximum in the optical depth near 0200 local time was found, which may result from condensation during the night. A measurement of the egress of Phobos from eclipse was made. Modeling of the light curve gave a scale height for the scatterers of 10–15 km. The exact time of the eclipse reappearance over the limb could be reconstructed from the measurements and was in reasonable accord with predictions, although a small modification to the predicted position of Phobos of 6.8 (±6.0) km would have produced better agreement.

Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets↗

USGS1997

Results from the Mars Pathfinder camera

Images of the martian surface returned by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) show a complex surface of ridges and troughs covered by rocks that have been transported and modified by fluvial, aeolian, and impact processes. Analysis of the spectral signatures in the scene (at 440- to 1000-nanometer wavelength) reveal three types of rock and four classes of soil. Upward-looking IMP images of the predawn sky show thin, bluish clouds that probably represent water ice forming on local atmospheric haze (opacity ∼0.5). Haze particles are about 1 micrometer in radius and the water vapor column abundance is about 10 precipitable micrometers.

Science↗