The label "soil" is used in a great variety of significations but seldom to indicate what is meant by it as a thorough
concept in soil science/pedology. This is particularly true when used by scientists not acquainted with soil science even
on Earth. Hence, the label "soil" very often stands for features occurring in surficial deposits of planets (as the Earth
itself) not really dealing with soil development. Soil development is a complex result/product from major natural factors
as water/precipitation, geomorphology/edaphic position, sediment /surficial deposits and by and large climate. All these
factors are reflected in a "soil-type" of the earthly soil-classification-system. In reverse "soils" reflect pedologic/climatic
conditions of the past possibly pointing at the presence of water and vegetation in a given landscape. As soils are thus
intrinsically related to life on planets as on Earth the label soil in searching for Life on Mars should be used properly.
Phyllosilicates and red clays (even in traces) recently discovered by many scientists on the Red Planet may indicate the
presence of thorough soils on Mars. The term "regolith" for the Martian soil should then be avoided.
Soils and landscapes form the carpet of the earth’s surface which is in permanent geodynamic evolution and almost uninterruptedly be followed over the last 65 million Earth years since the Tertiary. The present geo-morphological traverse is composed of landscapes which over the last 2.4 million years of the Quaternary Epoch developed in harmony with the prevailing climatic belt along the parallels of latitude. Landscapes occur at the boundary of lithosphere and atmosphere and depend from the perennial changing geochemistry of the atmosphere. The sea and the oceans as well as the lakes are part of these landscapes and change also accordingly. Soils form today and formed in the geological past on top of these landscapes and represent an important habitat of life. Red Soils on Earth are bound today to the tropical belt. With changing geochemistry of the atmosphere the red soils covered some 7-10 Million years ago also the surface of the Earth till 73°N and S Latitude in a continuously ambient tropoid environment shaping planation surfaces. Earth from this point of view, was a Red Planet of which relicts are found from Lapland till Antarctica. The red cover occurring on the surface of Mars between the poles may then be a similar stage of the past.
Calculating palaeoclimatic cycles on a wide range of geological parameters of the Earth revealed the absolute dependence of climatic change on planetary and Sun orbital characteristics and resonances. Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images MOC2_148 and MOC2_300, taken from huge canyons near the north polar region clearly show a periglacial permafrost sequence of sedimentary layers which are of different repetitive thicknesses. The fact that such layers have been rhythmically deposited inheres the existence of a fossil or palaeo-dynamic sedimentary environment. Since thickness of the sediment layers differs, the relative sedimentation rate (Relative-Sediment-Deposit-Genetic-Rate (RSDGR)) is taken for a standard parameter. Application of two especially for this purpose tested successive AR algorithms (ExSpect-Matlab) reveals the existence of short RSDGR cycles on Mars ranging from 1,000 years through 10,000 and 40,000 years. The short-term cycles (less than 10,000 years) coincide with the small palaeoclimatic changes on Earth, defined by planetary resonances and Sun activity; instead the larger ones correspond with the larger desertification cycles (glacial-interglacial) on Earth, depending on planetary orbital behavior (the so-called Milankovitch cycles). Time span simulations were executed on the Mars sediment series, corresponding to well known Stages of the Quaternary System on Earth (2.4 Million years and less) and on the large Geological Era’s of the Earth (4.6 Billion years and less). It was found that only small cyclicities (400,000 and less) could be calculated on basis of the RSDGR derived from MOC2_148 and MOC2_300 images. No correspondence with known cyclicities on Earth occur when deposition time span is simulated as being longer than 2.4 million years. This fact leads to the assumption that RSDGR events on Mars cover a much shorter time span. Since the sediment series lay on the surface of Mars, the genetic geological dynamics will first be described in detail. Furthermore, it will be investigated by the same method how recent the surface depositional event may be. Calculation results in an approximative age of 125,000 years, called on Earth the “Last Glacial-Last Interglacial Cycle”. Correspondence with Holocene (last 12500 years) cycles on Earth prove that the RSDGR process is active today.
Computing of periodicities in Mars sediment time series has been successful following a spectral analysis method that first was elaborated and tested on terrestrial deposits. In this paper the terrestrial method will first be explained on basis of fossil soil stratigraphic sequences mainly obtained from loess deposits on the Loess Plateau of China and the smaller Loess Belt of Northern France and Belgium. The computation method is called ExSpect: an Expert Spectral Analysis programme for cyclicity calculation. ExSpect was used for timespans and cyclicities of geological proxydata sets/time series behaving like acoustic signals. In applying this method on sediment time series of Mars image sediment sections a large cycle of 400Ka and two smaller ones of 4Ka and 9Ka (in Mars years) are computed like on Earth.
A number of landscape features of the surface of Mars have revealed similarities of morphology which may imply similarities of development and by and large, the presence of water, ice and permafrost. A systematic comparative study between landscapes of the Earth and those of Mars may be useful for the understanding of the evolution of Mars and the possible presence of global climatic changes on Mars. The comparative study along a landscape traverse from the poles till the equator on Earth can for this purpose successfully be compared with the Mars. It is concluded that Snowball Earth Stages similar to the Mars icy global stage today occurred periodically on Earth as well. Furthermore the evidence of melting water phenomena observed on Mars images point at protracted thawing inferring a Mars Global Warming today in resonance with the Earth.
The Method of Sediment and Soil Stratigraphic Geological Dating based on the Time-Stratigraphic Stability of the occurrence of fossil soils and interfering sediments in a given time series of the recent deposits on Earth (Pleistocene and Holocene), revealed in a first attempt the time record of geosoils and other events such as major gravel beds, for a number of Quaternary Sediments. Time Series such as eolian loess deposits of the loess plateau in China at Huangling and Jiacun localities at the eastern end, and of the loess plateau in Belgium at Waret-Grand Sart and Tongrinne-Le Docq borehole logs, at the western end of the Global Trans Eurasiatic loess belt served as a basis of the ExSpect-Matlab Cyclicity Calculation Method. It must be understood hereby that mathematical treatment of the deposits is not possible if the chosen parameters are not stratigraphically secured either by radiometric dating or by means of classical relative geological chronostratigraphic dating. The latter method offers indeed, the possibility of geological correlation and thus to cross check the level of significance of the stratigraphic position of e.g. fossil (geo-) soils found by computation.
Mars shows a variety of landscapes from the poles towards the equators which can be easily compared with terrestrial landscapes. The sequence of images in the range from the poles till equator is also similar to the sequence which is found on Planet Earth i.e. the fluviatile landscapes of the equatorial belts, the warm desertic region with mesas at about 30 degree(s) latitude, complex landscapes of the middle latitudinal belt, polygonal structured ground and pingo-like forms towards the poles and finally the polar ice caps. The features in all these areas are so similar in form and range of occurrence that it leaves no doubt that origin of the landscapes Mars could be very likely the same as on Planet Earth. This would also demonstrate that most of these landscape forms developed under the agis of water under different types of its possible occurrence: fluvial, permafrost, erosional, coastal, etc. besides the fact that it furthermore proves that the polar-caps are really built by snow, ice and glaciers. A series of erosional gullies on Mars furthermore offered sediment sequences which no doubt show a cyclic repetitive series of sedimentation layers. The latter cyclic sediment series is generally found with sequences in the earth deposits as well and have been suitable for computation. On earth they definitely show cycles of cold/drought periods interfering with warm/wet periods. This would infer that the climatic global changes may have existed on Mars as well.
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