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P. A. Davis

Publications and source records attributed to P. A. Davis.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2012

Modeling crater topography and albedo from monoscopic Viking orbiter images: 1. Methodology

A new photoclinometric technique for extraction of topographic data from single planetary images is presented that overcomes many previous limitations of photoclinometry. The procedure fully compensates for oblique viewing geometry prevalent in spacecraft images. Albedo variations have been one of the most serious obstacles in the application of photoclinometry to planetary surfaces. This problem is overcome in the topographic solution by simultaneously utilizing brightness data from a pair of profiles; both segments are assumed to have the same topographic and albedo variations along their lengths. Profile directions are chosen where the orientation of downslope or upslope is obvious, thus resolving a major ambiguity in photoclinometry. This requirement is particularly easy to satisfy for craters and not very difficult for many irregular features. An additional procedure is presented that eliminates even the requirement of topographic symmetry along the pair of profiles. If two profiles have the same relief but their shapes are very different, another method can be used in an iterative process to derive topographic profiles; however, this procedure does, require that the albedo not vary along the profiles. Test results indicate that both procedures have an accuracy and precision of approximately 2° for slopes of typical bowl-shaped craters, which translates to approximately 5% for depths.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗
USGS2012

Global petrologic variations on the moon: A ternary-diagram approach.

A ternary-diagram approach for determination of global petrologic variations on the lunar surface is presented that incorporates valuable improvements in our previous method of using geochemical variation diagrams. This new approach uses a ternary diagram that is subdivided into equally spaced segments along each of its three sides and has a triangular area in its center. The segments are assigned distinct colors that cover the range of the visible spectrum. The apexes are assigned the three primary colors, and the center triangle, which represents equal proportions of the three apexes, is assigned the color gray. The apexes are assigned the average Fe and (Th/Ti) c (ratio normalized to chondrites) compositions of KREEP/Mg-suite rocks, mare basalts, and ferroan anorthosites. The composition of each picture element (pixel) within these Apollo orbital gamma ray databases is used to determine its position within the ternary diagram. The color corresponding to this ternary position is then placed on a classification map at that pixel's position within the orbital databases. Error databases produced for the Fe and (Th/Ti) c data were used to exclude pixels having high errors. The resultant classification map shows spatial transitions among petrologic units, allows direct determination of the relative proportions of each end-member composition in a pixel, and increases the geologic interpretability of these data over that of the individual elemental databases. The classification units correspond remarkably well to observed geologic units, when we consider the spatial resolution (100 km) of the gamma ray spectrometer. Our results are as follows: (1) The highlands contain large areas of relatively pure ferroan anorthosite. (2) The average composition of the upper lunar crust is represented by an “anorthositic gabbro” composition, which supports the “magma-ocean” hypothesis for lunar crustal genesis. (3) KREEP/Mg-suite rocks are a minor fraction of the upper lunar crust. (4) Within the farside highlands, areas of KREEP/Mg-suite rocks coincide mostly with areas of crustal thinning, which are probably areas of KREEP basalt extrusions or localized excavations of Mg-suite rocks or KREEP-rich rocks. (5) Portions of the east limb and farside highlands have considerable amounts of a mafic, chondritic Th/Ti component (like mare basalt) whose occurrences coincide with mapped concentrations of light plains that display dark-halo craters; the presence of this component supports the hypothesis that mare volcanism had occurred within this highland region before the end of final heavy bombardment.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗
USGS2012

Tectonic history of the Syria Planum province of Mars

We attribute most of the development of extensive fractures in the Tharsis region to discrete tectonic provinces within the region, rather than to Tharsis as a single entity. One of these provinces is in Syria Planum. Faults and collapse structures in the Syria Planum tectonic province on Mars are grouped into 13 sets based on relative age, areal distribution, and morphology. According to superposition and fault crosscutting relations and crater counts we designate six distinct episodes of tectonic activity in the following chronologic order: stage I is an early to late Noachian deformation forming mostly east-west structures (fault set IA); some large volcanoes also formed. Faults were produced possibly by flexural uplift. Also, arcuate, north trending grabens (set IB) indicate that faulting is transitional to the next stage. Stage II is late Noachian to early Hesperian radial faulting centered in Syria Planum, possibly due to isostatic uplift in late Noachian (set IIA) to early Hesperian (set IIB) time. Stage III is early to late Hesperian faulting tangential to Syria Planum that was related to local centers of uplift (sets III1-III3) on the periphery of Syria Planum. Stage IV is a late Hesperian graben formation that was circumferential to Syria Planum (set IVA), caused either by collapse associated with eruption of magma or by flexure of the lithosphere due to volcanic loading. In association with volcanism, minor faulting occurred, producing an oval pattern of faults in southwest Syria Planum (set IVBl) and a radial pattern south of the planum (set IVB2) that apparently rejuvenated buried stage II faults. Stage V is a late Hesperian to early Amazonian development of grabens and troughs of Noctis Labyrinthus and western Valles Marineris (set V) that was probably instigated by local uplift; exposure of groundwater or ground ice zones may have produced further collapse and trough enlargement. Stage VI is early Amazonian northwest trending faulting in Noctis Fossae (set VIl), perhaps due to Tharsis Monies-centered tectonism, and north northwest normal faulting along the eastern side of the Claritas rise (set VI2) that was due to tectonic subsidence. The duration of tectonic activity in the Syria Planum province was perhaps 2–3 b.y. Photoclinometric topographic profiles across 132 grabens and fault scarps show that Syria Planum grabens have widths (average of 2.5 km, and most range from 1 to 6 km) similar to lunar grabens, but the Martian grabens have slightly higher side walls (average about 132 m) and gentler wall slopes (average of 9° and range of 2°–25°) than lunar grabens (93 m high and 18° slopes). Scarp degradation on Mars has progressed through quakes, impact shaking, and dry slope processes; the lower slopes may be due to Mars’ higher gravity. Estimates of the amount of extension for individual grabens range from 20 to 350 m; most estimates of the thickness of the faulted layer range from 0.5 to 4.5 km (average is 1.5 km). This thickness range corresponds closely to the 0.8-to 3.6-km range in depth for pits, troughs, and canyons in Noctis Labyrinthus and along the walls of Valles Marineris. We propose that the predominant 1-to 1.5-km values obtained for both the thickness of the faulted layer and the depths of the pits, troughs, and theater heads of the canyons reflect the initial depth to the water table in this region, as governed by the depth to the base of ground ice. Maximum depths for these features may indicate lowered groundwater table depths and the base of ejecta material.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗
USGS2012

Discontinuities in the shallow Martian crust at Lunae, Syria, and Sinai Plana

Detailed photoclinometric profiles across 125 erosional features and 141 grabens in the western equatorial region of Mars indicate the presence of three discontinuities within the shallow crust. Pits, troughs, and wall valleys (tributary canyons) within Noctis Labyrinthus and Valles Marineris and escarpments within the fretted terrain of Sacra Fossae and Kasei Valles show distinct erosional base levels at depths of 0.3–0.6 km, 1 km, and 2–3 km. The shallowest discontinuity corresponds to thickness estimates for the ridged plains unit in this region, and thus the discontinuity probably is the contact between a sequence of layered rock making up this unit and the underlying megaregolith. The 1-km discontinuity is reflected in the base levels of erosion of all the features studied, and it may correspond to the base of the proposed layer of ground ice. Model calculations using photoclinometric profiles of simple grabens (corrected for the effects of mass wasting) and the 60° dip of bounding faults (measured from the exposed traces of faults on trough walls) show that graben-bounding faults consistently intersect at the mechanical discontinuity at about 1 km depth. This discontinuity may represent an interface between ice-laden and dry regolith, ice-laden and water-laden regolith, or pristine and cemented regolith. A correlation between wall valley head depth and local thickness of the faulted layer suggests that the 1-km discontinuity also controlled the depth of the heads of sapping canyons. There is no apparent relation between the pit and trough depths and the local thickness of the faulted layer, which can be explained if pits and troughs developed by subsidence into underlying tension cracks that disrupted the 1-km discontinuity. The data do suggest, however, that erosion of shallow pits and troughs was influenced by the 1-km discontinuity. The third discontinuity, at a depth of 2–3 km, corresponds to the proposed base of the Martian megaregolith and is probably the interface between overlying, ejected breccia and in situ, fractured basement rocks.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗
USGS2006

Hydrologic testing of tight zones in southeastern New Mexico

Increased attention is being directed toward the investigation of tight zones in relation to the storage and disposal of hazardous wastes. Shut-in tests, slug tests, and pressure-slug tests are being used at the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site, located in southeastern New Mexico, to evaluate the fluid-transmitting properties of several zones above the proposed repository zone. Apparatus used to conduct these tests includes a pressure-transducer system connected to a recording device at the land surface. All three testing methods were used in various combinations to obtain values for the hydraulic properties of the test zones. Multiple testing on the same zone produced similar results. Transmissivities determined by these tests range from 0.00001 to 10 feet squared per day (.000001 to 1 meter squared per day).

Groundwater↗
USGS1984

Aquifer tests at the Jackpile-Paguate uranium mine, Pueblo of Laguna, west-central New Mexico

The transmissivity of the Jackpile sandstone bed in the Brushy Basin Shale Member of the Morrison Formation, west-central New Mexico, was determined to be 24 sq ft/day at well M2 and 47 sq ft/day at well M3 from constant-discharge aquifer tests conducted at the Jackpile-Paguate Uranium Mine. The storage coefficient of the Jackpile sandstone bed was estimated to be 0.00018 at well M2 and 0.00029 at well M3 from the same tests. An aquifer test conducted at well M21 indicated the transmissivity of the Jackpile sandstone bed was 2.0 sq ft/day and the storage coefficient was 0.00002. The transmissivity of an unnamed sandstone bed in the Brushy Basin Shale Member of the Morrison Formation was estimated from ' slug-test ' results to be about 20 sq ft/day. Water levels in this sandstone probably did not change due to pumping from the overlying Jackpile sandstone bed for 88 hours at an average discharge of 15.3 gallons/min. A constant discharge aquifer test at well M4C indicated that the transmissivity of the alluvium at this location was about 430 sq ft/day. Water levels in the underlying Jackpile sandstone bed began declining within 15 minutes after withdrawals of groundwater from the alluvial aquifer began. (USGS)

New Mexico↗