Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets – Page 7

Long Term Preservation of Subsurface Ice on Mars

by S. A. Hauck II 14 February 201828 January 2022

Layered-ejecta craters on Mars that are associated with impacts into rock mixed with volatiles have been formed throughout the planet’s history indicating the long-term preservation of subsurface ice.

Researchers examine mudstone in Mars’s Gale crater to unravel the history of liquid surface water

Research Spotlights

History of Water on Mars’s Surface Is Longer Than We Thought

by Terri Cook 2 February 201827 January 2022

Curiosity’s two-step heating experiment of mudstone at Gale crater reveals minerals that formed in the presence of water less than 3 billion years ago.

Irradiation-induced color changes in sodium chloride suggest Europa’s ocean waters are mixing with surface waters—a sign of the moon’s potential to support life

Research Spotlights

Seeking Salt That Surfaces from Europa’s Hidden Ocean

by Sarah Stanley 31 January 20187 March 2022

Irradiation-induced color changes in sodium chloride could reveal whether it came from ocean water mixing with surface water, a key component of the moon’s potential to support life.

Editors' Vox

Choosing a Lunar Landing Site

by C. I. Fassett 5 October 201726 January 2022

A recent article in JGR: Planets described the geological characteristics of two candidate sites for the upcoming Chinese mission to the Moon.

Mystery shrouds the Enceladus plume, and researchers think a dust cloud might be the main culprit

Research Spotlights

Where Are the Electrical Currents in the Enceladus Plume?

by Mark Zastrow 7 July 20172 February 2022

A plume of water ice that escapes Saturn’s moon Enceladus should be coursing with electrical currents, but data are mixed. Now simulations suggest that a sticky dust cloud may shield signals.

Researchers use models to examine the orientation of poles on Neptune’s moon Triton

Research Spotlights

Time, Tides, and Wandering Poles

by A. Branscombe 5 July 2017

Models of Neptune’s moon Triton reveal curious behavior in how tidal forces and mass anomalies cause the poles to reorient their location.

Researchers examine images taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover to see how Martian sand dunes form.

Research Spotlights

Curiosity Spies Shifting Sands on Mars

by Mark Zastrow 29 June 2017

Images from the rover’s pioneering encounter with sand dunes on Mars constrain wind speeds required to move sand in the thin Martian atmosphere.

Researchers look at silicon carbide under heat and pressure to better understand its behavior in a planet mantle

Research Spotlights

Lab Tests Probe Carbon Planets’ Inner Dynamics

by Terri Cook 15 June 201730 September 2021

Thermal convection in deep interiors could be more vigorous in carbide planets than in comparably sized silicate planets, according to new high-pressure measurements of silicon carbide.