Relief Inversion: Australian Analogs of a Common Feature of Martian

Introduction: Relief inversion explains a wide range of sinuous and dendritic ridges on the martian surface as well as elevated craters [1]. The process occurs when former depressions become elevated because their fill is more resistant to erosion than the surrounding terrain. On Mars the most likely cementing agents for surface induration are iron oxides, opalline silica, sulfates and perhaps other salts. Possible cementation mechanisms include fluid mixing during regional groundwater flow, cooling of hydrothermal or basinal fluids as they near the surface, and evaporation and sublimation of near surface water. Wind action appears the most common erosive process on Mars capable of the regional landscape lowering necessary for relief inversion to take place.