Comparison of the Morphology of Crater-Slopes with Gullies to those Without Gullies

Introduction: Gullies were first noted in Mars Orbiter Camera images [1] and have since been found to be commonplace throughout the mid-latitudes on Mars [e.g. 2]. These features are often associated with the action of liquid water, either as unconcentrated water flow or debris flow [e.g., 3,4]. The fact that gullies are found predominantly in the mid-latitudes and have a pole-facing preference [2] points to a climatic influence on their formation. We present a study of gullies in craters in the regions of Terra Cimmeria, Noachis Terra and Acidalia Planum (Fig. 1) using HRSC topographic data at 100 m/pix or better. We aim to determine if craters with gullies have a different morphology to those with no gullies.