First high‐resolution stratigraphic column of the Martian north polar layered deposits

[1] This study achieves the first high‐spatial‐resolution, layer‐scale, measured stratigraphic column of the Martian north polar layered deposits using a 1m‐posting DEM. The marker beds found throughout the upper North Polar Layered Deposits range in thickness from 1.6 m–16.0 m +/− 1.4 m, and 6 of 13 marker beds are separated by ∼25–35 m. Thin‐layer sets have average layer separations of 1.6 m. These layer separations may account for the spectral‐power‐ peaks found in previous brightness‐profile analyses. Marker‐ bed layer thicknesses show a weak trend of decreasing thickness with depth that we interpret to potentially be the result of a decreased accumulation rate in the past, for those layers. However, the stratigraphic column reveals that a simple rhythmic or bundled layer sequence is not immediately apparent throughout the column, implying that the relationship between polar layer formation and cyclic climate forcing is quite complex. Citation: Fishbaugh, K. E., C. S. Hvidberg, S. Byrne, P. S. Russell, K. E. Herkenhoff, M. Winstrup, and R. Kirk (2010), First high‐resolution stratigraphic column of the Martian north polar layered deposits, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L07201, doi:10.1029/2009GL041642.