Gaetano Di Achille

Publications (7)0 Total impact

• Conference Proceeding: Geologic evolution of the Tyras Vallis system, Mars

  Gaetano Di Achille, Lucia Marinangeli, Gian Gabriele Ori, Ernst Hauber, Klaus Gwinner, Dennis Reiss, Gerhard Neukum
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  ABSTRACT: High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) data , with their stereo capabilities, allow the investigation of Martian sedimentary features at unprecedented details. Using these new data, we reconstructed the hydrological history of an unnamed Noachian complex crater in the Xanthe Terra region. The crater hosted a lacustrine basin fed by a dense and centripetal drainage system, developed along its inner rim, and by the Tyras Vallis channel. Where the Tyras Vallis feeder channel opens into the crater, is visible a prominent fan-shaped distributary feature, characterized by a central terrace and two small longitudinal scarps. The delta-like deposit covers an area of about 83 km², with a 13 km radial length and an average slope gradient of about 3.5 degrees. The apex of the fan lies ~900 m above the crater floor. To investigate the geology of the Tyras Vallis paleolacustrine system, we considered the geomorphologic characteristics of the mapped units and determined their relative ages based on stratigraphic relationships. Evidence of strandlines within the crater provided constraints about the past presence of a standing body of water with its wave-related processes. Topography derived by HRSC stereo data supported the analysis of the Tyras fan deposit and allowed to reconstruct the overall lacustrine depositional history from the parallel observations of the Tyras fan and crater floor deposits. Two major stands of the water level have been inferred at 700 m and 550 m above the crater floor. Our reconstruction reveals a complex sedimentary evolution of the fan, which underwent deltaic and alluvial sedimentation, passing from a river-dominated progradational regime to a wave-dominated erosional regime. Groundwater processes and intrinsic fluctuations of the sapping dynamics likely affected the transport capacity of the Tyras Vallis and the changes of the water level in the paleolake. Moreover, the heating effects of cratering might have affected the area, initiating, rejuvenating or accelerating the recharge of the aquifer and the basin evolution. This eventuality advised against any global paleoclimatic extrapolation.
  GSA Annual Meeting 2005;
• Conference Proceeding: Sedimentary deposits in Xanthe Terra: Implications for the ancient climate on Mars

  Ernst Hauber, Klaus Gwinner, Maarten Kleinhans, Dennis Reiss, Gaetano Di Achille, Gian-Gabriele Ori, Frank Scholten, Lucia Marinangeli, Ralf Jaumann, Gerhard Neukum
  European Planetary Science Congress;
• Conference Proceeding: Global Distribution Of Putative Martian Deltas In The Light Of HRSC And HIRISE Instruments: Open Issues And Hydrological Inferences

  Gaetano Di Achille, Gian-Gabriele Ori, Brian Hynek, Ernst Hauber
  Second Workshop on Mars Valley Networks;
• Conference Proceeding: Fluvial Valleys and Sedimentary Deposits in Xanthe Terra: Implications for the ancient climate on Mars

  Ernst Hauber, Klaus Gwinner, Maarten Kleinhans, Dennis Reiss, Gaetano Di Achille, Ralf Jaumann
  Second Workshop on Mars Valley Networks;
• Source

  Available from: Gaetano Di Achille

  Article: Reconstruction of the Paleohydrology in Desert Areas Using SAR and Digital Topography Data

  Lucia Marinangeli, Gian Gabriele Ori, Angelo Pio Rossi, Gaetano Di Achille
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  ABSTRACT: Arid zones have been affected during the quaternary by a large hydrological and climate variability. This change of processes has shaped the landscape leaving the signature of former paleodrainage and sedimentological features. Using the radar SAR images matched with the detailed topography, obtained from the SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) data and ERS interferometry, it is possible to reconstruct the paleodrainages and identify the paleohydrological behavior of the past rivers and standing bodies of water. Interferometric data may show morphologies and provide elevation to estimate the former paleowater budget. Also a direct comparison between the past and previous settings is possible by the matching of SAR and other imaging product. We will present some examples from the Western Sahara (Algeria and Tunisia).
• Source

  Available from: Gaetano Di Achille

  Conference Proceeding: Geological Evolution of the Tyras Vallis Paleolacustrine System, Mars

  Gaetano Di Achille, Lucia Marinangeli, Gian-Gabriele Ori, Ernst Hauber, Klaus Gwinner, Dennis Reiss, Gerhard Neukum, Co-Investigator Team HRSC
  37th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference;
• Source

  Available from: Gaetano Di Achille

  Conference Proceeding: A Steep Fan at Coprates Catena, Valles Marineris, Mars as Seen by High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC)

  Gaetano Di Achille, Gian-Gabriele Ori, Dennis Reiss, Ernst Hauber, Klaus Gwinner, Gregory Michael, Gerhard Neukum, Co-Investigator Team HRSC
  37th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference;