Marco Cardinale

National Institute of Astrophysics | INAF · Astronomical Observatory of Collurania-Teramo

The recently selected NASA VERITAS and DAVINCI missions, the ESA EnVision, the Roscosmos Venera‐D will open a new era in the exploration of Venus. One of the key targets of the future orbiting and in situ investigations of Venus is the identification of volcanically active areas on the planet. The study of the areas characterized by recent or ongoi...

The recently selected NASA VERITAS and DAVINCI missions, the ESA En-Vision, the Roscosmos Venera-D will open a new era in the exploration ofVenus. One of the key targets of the future orbiting and in-situ investigationsof Venus is the identification of volcanically active areas on the planet. Thestudy of the areas characterized by recent or ongoing...

Along with the recently selected NASA DAVINCI and VERITAS missions, and with the ESA EnVision mission, the Roscosmos Venera-D mission opens the new decade of Venus exploration. Among these missions, the Venera-D is the only one to be equipped with a lander which could drill the surface of Venus and analyze its chemical composition. For this reason,...

Iron oxide minerals are found associated with sulfate rocks in Meridiani Planum, Mars and in Valles Marineris, Mars. Similar occurrence of iron oxide minerals, hematite and sulfate rock is found on Earth. Many experiments are performed over the time to understand formation of iron oxide minerals and genetic link between iron oxide mineral and assoc...

The exploration of Venus will soon experience a new golden era thanks to the recently selected NASA Deep Atmosphere of Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry and Imaging (DAVINCI) mission, NASA Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topogra-phy & Spectroscopy (VERITAS) mission, and ESA EnVision mission. The DAVINCI mission will focus on the...

Aeolian megaripples, with 5- to 50-m spacing, are abundant on the surface of Mars. These features were repeatedly targeted by high-resolution orbital images, but they have never been observed to move. Thus, aeolian megaripples (especially the bright-toned ones often referred as Transverse Aeolian Ridges-TARs) have been interpreted as relict feature...

Our research focuses on the detailed study of the aeolian deposits within Moreux crater using multi-resolution imaging and spectral data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The morphometric analysis on the dune slip faces and wind streak orientations allowed us to reconstruct the sand transport pathways and the changes of the transport pattern. W...

This study aims to assess the spatial and visible/near-infrared (VNIR) colour/spectral capabilities of the 4-band Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) aboard the ExoMars 2016 Trace Grace Orbiter (TGO). The instrument response functions for the CaSSIS imager was used to resample spectral libraries, modelled spectra and to construct spec...

Using automatic bedform mapping, principal component analysis and clustering we present a multiscale morphodynamic survey of dunes and meter-scale ripples on Herschel crater, Mars. The main purpose of this study is to assess if the morphology and temporal evolution of Martian meter-scale ripples is comparable to the morphodynamic characteristics of...

Small edifice features that are less than a few kilometers in diameter and up to a few hundred meters in height are widely distributed in Chryse Planitia on Mars. They exhibit a broad range of morphological properties that are here classified as Type 1 (steep-sided cones typically with a summit crater), Type 2 (nearly flat features with single or m...

In this report, we show evidence for ripple and dune migration in Herschel Crater on Mars.We estimate an average dune migration of 0.8. m and a minimum ripple migration of 1.1 m in a time span of 3.7 Earth-years. These dunes and ripples are mainly shaped by prevailing winds coming from the north, however we also report the presence of secondary win...

Introduction: Ripples on Martian dark dune fields are actively migrating and being shaped by near-surface winds [1, 2]. Therefore, they are the bedforms that evolve faster, probably recording even daily wind variations. Complex dune topography should also plays an important role, deflecting winds [3, 4] and generating " shadow " zones on the leesid...

DefinitionA dune is an aeolian or subaqueous landform created from the movement of sand-sized grains of unconsolidated sediments by wind or current action. An aeolian dune is a hill, mound, or ridge of sand or other loose material, such as aggregated clay particles (as in lunettes). A subaqueous dune is a water-formed bedform >0.6 m in wavelength.C...

DefinitionAeolian or subaqueous sand deposits that comprise hills of sand, which are formed under atmospheric or aqueous flows.SynonymsAeolian bedforms, aeolian sand system, dune, dune field, dune system, erg (originally used in N. Africa), sand sea. For a detailed nomenclature survey, see Breed and Grow (1979).A type of sand depositSubtypesAreal e...

We show that in the Herschel Crater the dominant winds from the north are able to keep the ripples and dunes active in the actual atmospheric conditions.

In this work we analyzed large dark dunes within Moreux Crater located in the Ismenius Lacus Region, and within Herschel Crater located in the Mare Tyrrenium Region using high-resolution imagery. The morphological analysis of the large dark dunes and their topographic setting suggests that the complex topography of the host basins modified the domi...

Our ongoing investigation of small mound features in Chryse Planitia, Mars, using imaging and spectral data is in general agreement with a mud volcano hypothesis but some notable characteristics uncommon in terrestrial counterparts are identified.

In this work we investigate HiRISE images that allow multi-temporal analysis of an erg in Herschel basin. We observed dune activity suggesting that the dark dunes in the studied area are movable under the present-day wind conditions.

Moreux crater is a 135 km-diameter impact basin situated at 42.1° north latitude and 315.6° west longitude. Its location, just north of Arabia Terra, is situated at the edge of a plateau of southern highlands, and its southern portion represents the dichotomy boundary, dislocating the regional scarp[1]. Morphologic features inside the crater sugges...

The aeolian features including sand corridors within the Moreux crater of Mars are likely resulted from wind circulation influenced by the crater topography. The sand corridors in the crater were compared with those in the Badan Jaran Desert, China.

The formation of conical features in Isidis Planitia on Mars is linked with the emplacement of the basin-filling AIi unit. We investigated their relationship in terms of cone distribution, their relation to basin topography, and spectral properties.

We discuss in this paper possible roles of methane and carbon dioxide in geological processes on Mars. These volatiles in the martian crust may migrate upward from their sources either directly or via various traps (structural, sedimentary, ground ice, gas hydrates). They are then likely emitted to the atmosphere by seepage or through diverse vent...

The methane gas in martian atmosphere is likely to have derived from the surface of the planet through unknown processes. We conducted an investigation to identify possible methane emission features beginning with the suggested source areas.

Our analysis of dune morphology in Mare Tyrrenium of Mars and GCM indicates that simple dunes are consistent with present wind conditions, but complex dunes reflect influences of local topography developing secondary wind flows not predicted by GCM.