School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
Science. 2012 Apr 27;336(6080):449-52. doi: 10.1126/science.1219437.
Athabasca Valles is a near-equatorial martian outflow channel that contains many well-preserved features whose formation and composition have been a point of contention. Large plates of terrain that have clearly fractured and drifted may have once been ice rafts or the rocky solidification crust of a large lava flow. We have identified 269 spiral coils ranging from 5 to 30 meters wide on the polygonally patterned interplate terrain that are morphologically consistent with terrestrial lava coils that form in zones of flow shear. This patterned terrain also exhibits signs of fracture and drift, indicating that it is platelike as well. The coils in the Athabasca region are inconsistent with ice rheology, and the plates, spirals, and polygons are interpreted to be of volcanic origin.
阿萨巴斯卡谷是一个近赤道的火星外流通道，其中包含许多保存完好的特征，其形成和组成一直存在争议。那些明显断裂和漂移的大型板块地形，可能曾经是冰筏或大型熔岩流的岩石固结外壳。我们已经在多边形图案的板块间地形上识别出了 269 个螺旋线圈，其宽度从 5 到 30 米不等，与在流剪切带中形成的陆地上的熔岩线圈在形态上是一致的。这种图案化的地形也显示出断裂和漂移的迹象，表明它也是板块状的。阿萨巴斯卡地区的线圈与冰的流变学不一致，而这些板块、螺旋和多边形被解释为火山成因的。
