Kyra Smith
MIT Department: Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Gaia Stucky de Quay
Undergraduate Institution: Oregon State University
Website:
Biography
Kyra Smith is from Rochester, Washington. She is a rising junior at Oregon StateUniversity, pursuing an Honors Bachelor of Science in Geology with a certificate inGeographic Information Science. During her time at OSU, she has discovered a strong passion for field work, including geologic mapping, rock identification, and reconstructing landscape histories. She has gained experience with GIS-based analysis, and enjoys using a blend of hands-on and computational tools to study surfaces. At MSRP, she is working under Professor Gaia Stucky de Quay in the department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. Her research focuses on the evolution of Martian impact craters over time, through the analysis of aging, erosional, and depositional data. Through the next year, she plans to further explore graduate programs that would allow her to concentrate in planetary surface processes and landscape evolution.
Abstract
Modification of Martian Impact Craters Over Time
Kyra Smith1,2, and Gaia Stucky de Quay2
1Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University
2Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The ancient Martian hydroclimate was significantly different from what is observed today. Originally covered by ample amounts of water, the surface was shaped by persistent and widespread surface flow. However, we have a limited understanding of the surface modification rates of Mars and how these vary over space and time. Here, we focus on Martian impact craters in order to determine how their well-constrained initial geometries are modified over time. First, we developed a database of all known Martian impact crater ages from literature. We combined this new database with crater depth values to investigate how crater morphologies modify over time. Preliminary results (n = 70 craters) of depth-diameter (d/D) ratios display a general trend toward lower infill amounts in the present day. The d/D is approximately ~0.06 in younger craters, and ~0.02 in older craters, suggesting 3x higher infill rates in older craters that formed closer to the Noachian period (>3.7 Ga). Developing our knowledge of long-term crater modification is critical for understanding the changes in the Martian climate over time, and providing constraints on the habitability of the ancient Martian surface.