1. Hiruni Senarath Dassanayake, Earth Sciences
Mentor: Dr. Kevin Williams
m
d
The Geomorphic Mapping of
the Southern Margaritifer
Terra Region of Mars
Reveals Possible Crater Lake

2. Introduction
• The complex geologic history of Mars
• Cratered highlands: Southern Margaritifer Terra
• Provide detailed mapping of the craters
• Studying the alluvial fans

3. Project Goals
• To understand how water could have shaped the surface of
Margaritifer Terra over time
• To create a geomorphic map of this previously unmapped
area through image interpretation
• To determine the relative ages of geologic features such as
alluvial fans and landslides in connection to the past effects
of water Alluvial fan in crater 1

4. Background
Location of five large craters in
southern Margaritifer Terra.
Scale bar is 25 km wide.
Close up of Crater 1 is shown in the
next slide.

5. Method
• Used existing literature and geologic maps to create a new
study area with Java-Mission Software (JMARS)
• Analyzed area in new map using different layers in JMARS
and simple algorithms to study the geomorphology of the
chosen area.

6. Map Key
Geomorphic Map of Study Area
Resulting geomorphic map of the
study area. Colors correspond to the
Description of Map Units.
Map is 180 km across.

10. Results
Scale bar is 2.5 km

11. Conclusions
• The fluvial features of this area suggest localized rainfall
or snowmelt.
• Small valleys and gullies were formed by fluvial
processes related to precipitation and surface flows or
recharged ground water sapping, but the evidence is
minimal for ground water sapping.
• Lake may have existed
• Studying history of water in this area helps our
understanding of the potential of past habitable areas on
Mars
• Next question, when did water exist in this area?