Morphologic evidence of subsurface sediment mobilization and mud volcanism in Candor and Coprates Chasmata, Valles Marineris, Mars

Populations of distinctive knobs, rings and lobate structures are observed in the Candor and Coprates Chasmata regions of Mars. To interpret the formation mechanisms of these landforms, I investigate their morphologies, facies, superposition and crosscutting relationships using data from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). The knobs and rings have quasi-circular to elliptical shapes in map view, with basal diameters between several hundred meters and three kilometers. The knobs rise ∼10 to 350 m above the surrounding terrain, while the rings are ∼10 to 70 m tall. In three dimensions the knobs have a rounded cone shape, and some knobs exhibit a summit depression, which in some examples contains a subordinate mound. The rings have rounded to sharp crests and in some instances contain subordinate rings and mounds. The lobate structures are commonly ∼1 to 2 km wide, ∼3 to 5 km long and rise up to 50 m above the surrounding terrain. The lobate structures partially or completely encircle some knobs, rings and irregularly shaped rock masses. The knobs, rings and lobate structures exhibit massive and stratified facies, with some structures exhibiting both, such as a massive central rock mass surrounded by outwardly dipping layers. I interpret these landforms as mud volcanoes, injectites and mud flows based on superposition and cross-cutting relationships as well as similarities between the morphologies and facies of these landforms with terrestrial products of mud volcanism. I infer the source of sediment for this mud volcanism to be the Hesperian eolian deposits that occur within these chasmata. Further, I suggest that groundwater upwelling during the Hesperian to possibly the Early Amazonian facilitated the mobilization of these sediments within the subsurface and thereby contributed to the ensuing mud volcanism. Based on these results, I propose that the Candor Chaos formed through subsurface sediment mobilization and mud volcanism.