Study on Distribution and Morphology of Transverse Aeolian Ridges in the Landing Area of Zhurong Rover

Abstract

At present，the research on transverse aeolian ridges in the ''Zhurong'' landing area on Mars mainly focuses on flat areas，while ignoring the impact of complex landform types on their spatial distribution and geometric morphology of these ridges. To solve this problem，this paper used high-resolution data obtained by the Tianwen-1 orbiter to conduct a survey of transverse aeolian ridges in the Crater Ejecta，Secondary Craters，Trough，Lobate Margin，pitted Cone，Plain，and Mesa around the landing area of the "Zhurong"，analyzed the relationship between the distribution and morphology of transverse aeolian ridges and landforms，and studied the influence of two topographic factors，elevation and slope，on the distribution and morphology of transverse aeolian ridges. The results show that different landform types have a significant impact on the spatial distribution and morphological size of transverse aeolian ridges. Under the complex topography，the distribution and morphology of transverse aeolian ridges are diverse，with large sizes and no significant differences in aspect ratios; in the range of –4 300 m to –3 900 m in elevation，the number of transverse aeolian ridges is on an upward trend，and their average length and average width are strongly negatively correlated with the elevation. The study area is dominated by extremely gentle slopes and gentle slopes，and the average length and average width of transverse aeolian ridges are moderately negatively correlated with the slope. This study provides data support for the formation and development of transverse aeolian ridges，and also provides a research basis for future studies on the types of wind conditions on the Martian surface and the paleo-environment in which they began to develop.

Keywords

transverse aeolian ridge / geomorphic unit / distribution and morphology / elevation / slope