Planetary Geosciences and Space Exploration

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2014) | Viewed by 19152

Special Issue Editor

Instituto de Geociencias, IGEO (CSIC-UCM), C/ Del Doctor Severo Ochoa 7, Edificio Entrepabellones 7 y 8, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: planetary geosciences; meteorites; geoeducation; geoethics; mineralogy; geochemistry; sustainability; conceptual changes; astrobiology; future earth
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Numerous planetary and space missions have marked our lives through the last decades. Since the foundation of Astrogeology in the early sixties, it is a fact that geology and geosciences have become crucial not only for a better understanding of our solar system (including the Earth), but also for obtaining unique information regarding the origin and evolution of the Moon, the characterization of natural resources in Near-Earth Space, the assessment of the habitability conditions of Mars and other planetary bodies, impact craters and events, etc. Advances over recent years have come from comparative planetology, large-scale geological and geodynamic studies, improvements of analytical methods for in-situ, planetary mineralogical, and geochemical analyses, computerization and imaging enhancement techniques; amazing information from asteroidal, lunar, and mars meteorites, and the use of terrestrial analogs and experimental tests using planetary chambers, among others.

Specifically, this Special Issue aims to provide an outlet for the rapid and widely accessible publication of peer-reviewed studies concerning the progress of geosciences towards space, of reviews that concern the state of the art and which suggest ways forward, of highlights regarding new findings (and which account for that multidisciplinary approaches that are required to reach the present state of development in the planetary geosciences), and of attempts to predict the nature of future scientific, social, and cultural challenges.

Prof. Dr. Jesus Martinez-Frias
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • astrogeology
  • planetary geosciences
  • Moon, Mars
  • asteroids
  • impact craters
  • Near-Earth Space
  • robotic and human exploration
  • meteorites
  • icy moons
  • extraterrestrial resources

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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Article
Fluvial Transport Model from Spatial Distribution Analysis of Libyan Desert Glass Mass on the Great Sand Sea (Southwest Egypt): Clues to Primary Glass Distribution
by Nancy Jimenez-Martinez, Marius Ramirez, Raquel Diaz-Hernandez and Gustavo Rodriguez-Gomez
Geosciences 2015, 5(2), 95-116; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences5020095 - 02 Apr 2015
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 8198
Abstract
Libyan Desert Glass (LDG) is a natural silica-rich melted rock found as pieces scattered over the sand and bedrock of the Western Desert of Egypt, northeast of the Gilf Kebir. In this work, a population mixture analysis serves to relate the present spatial [...] Read more.
Libyan Desert Glass (LDG) is a natural silica-rich melted rock found as pieces scattered over the sand and bedrock of the Western Desert of Egypt, northeast of the Gilf Kebir. In this work, a population mixture analysis serves to relate the present spatial distribution of LDG mass density with the Late Oligocene–Early Miocene fluvial dynamics in the Western Desert of Egypt. This was verified from a spatial distribution model that was predicted from the log-normal kriging method using the LDG–mass-dependent transformed variable, Y(x). Both low- and high-density normal populations (–9.2 < Y(x) < –3.5 and –3.8 < Y(x) < 2.1, respectively) were identified. The low-density population was the result of an ordinary fluvial LDG transport/deposition sequence that was active from the time of the melting process, and which lasted until the end of activity of the Gilf River. The surface distribution of the high-density population allowed us to restrict the source area of the melting process. We demonstrate the importance of this geostatistical study in unveiling the probable location of the point where the melting of surficial material occurred and the role of the Gilf River in the configuration of the observed strewn field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planetary Geosciences and Space Exploration)
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Communication
Probing the Hidden Geology of Isidis Planitia (Mars) with Impact Craters
by Graziella Caprarelli and Roberto Orosei
Geosciences 2015, 5(1), 30-44; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences5010030 - 13 Feb 2015
Viewed by 10035
Abstract
In this study we investigated Isidis Planitia, a 1325 km diameter multi-ring impact basin intersecting the Martian hemispheric dichotomy, located in the eastern hemisphere, between Syrtis Major and Utopia Planitia. From Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter gridded data we observed that in the center [...] Read more.
In this study we investigated Isidis Planitia, a 1325 km diameter multi-ring impact basin intersecting the Martian hemispheric dichotomy, located in the eastern hemisphere, between Syrtis Major and Utopia Planitia. From Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter gridded data we observed that in the center of Isidis the −3700 m and −3800 m isolines strike NW-SE, being quasi-parallel to the diameter of the basin. We interpreted this as evidence that the basement of Isidis Planitia was faulted prior to being completely covered by layers of sediments and volcanic rocks. Plotting the morphometric data of impact craters located on the floor of the basin in a measured depths vs. predicted depths diagram (MPD), we concluded that the fault planes should dip SW, which is consistent with the location of the most topographically depressed sector of Isidis Planitia. We also estimated a minimum vertical displacement of ~1–2 km. Considering that the crust under Isidis Planitia is only a few km thick, our estimate implies brittle behavior of the lithosphere under the basin, suggesting that a low geothermal gradient and rheologically strong material characterize this Martian location. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planetary Geosciences and Space Exploration)
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