Engineering topics

Frawley, James J.

Publications and source records attributed to Frawley, James J..

7 records

NASA NTRS2004

Paleo-Pole Positions from Martian Magnetic Anomaly Data

Magnetic component anomaly maps were made from five mapping cycles of the Mars Global Surveyor's magnetometer data. Our goal was to find and isolate positive and negative anomaly pairs which would indicate magnetization of a single source body. From these anomalies we could compute the direction of the magnetizing vector and subsequently the location of the magnetic pole existing at the time of magnetization. We found nine suitable anomaly pairs and from these we computed paleo-poles that were nearly equally divided between north, south and mid-latitudes. These results suggest that during the existence of the martian main magnetic field it experienced several reversals and excursions.

Frawley, James J.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Satellite-Altitude Geopotential Study of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly (KMA)

With the successful launch of the Orsted, SAC-C and CHAMP satellites we are able to make both magnetic and gravity anomaly maps of the Earth's crust; magnetic from all three missions and gravity with CHAMP. We have used these data to study the KMA area of Russia. This is an important region for several reasons: (1) we have already made satellite magnetic anomaly maps of this region and they can be integrated with the gravity data from CHAMP for a comprehensive interpretation; (2) KMA contains the largest know reserves of iron-ore in the world; and (3) there are significant ground truth data available for this region from aeromagnetic, balloon surveys and geophysical mapping, including extensive rock magnetic/paleo-magnetic and geologic studies. Utilizing the gravity observations, collocated with the magnetic data enabled us to make a joint interpretation. While there is a high amplitude magnetic anomaly recorded over the KMA the gravity anomaly at satellite altitude revealed by CHAMP is only around 3-6 mGal but is not centered on the magnetic high. This would indicate that despite the fact that in the region of the KMA the rocks have a higher percentage of iron than in the surrounding formations the entire area is Archean-Proterozoic in age and therefore very dense.

Taylor, Patrick T.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Paleo-Pole Positions from Martian Magnetic Anomaly Data

Magnetic component anomaly maps were made from five mapping cycles of the Mars Global Surveyor s magnetometer data. Our goal was to find and isolate positive and negative anomaly pairs which would indicate magnetization of a single source body. From these anomalies we could compute the direction of the magnetizing vector and subsequently the location of the magnetic pole existing at the time of magnetization. We found nine suitable anomaly pairs and from these we computed four North and 3 South poles with two at approximately 60 degrees north latitude. These results suggest that during the existence of the Martian main magnetic field it experienced several reversals.

Taylor, Patrick T.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Crustal Magnetic Fields

Cosmos 49, Polar Orbit Geophysical Observatory (POGO) (Orbiting Geophysical Observatory (OGO-2, 4 and 6)) and Magsat have been the only low-earth orbiting satellites to measure the crustal magnetic field on a global scale. These missions revealed the presence of long- wavelength (> 500 km) crustal anomalies predominantly located over continents. Ground based methods were, for the most part, unable to record these very large-scale features; no doubt due to the problems of assembling continental scale maps from numerous smaller surveys acquired over many years. Questions arose as to the source and nature of these long-wave length anomalies. As a result there was a great stimulant given to the study of the magnetic properties of the lower crust and upper mantle. Some indication as to the nature of these deep sources has been provided by the recent results from the deep crustal drilling programs. In addition, the mechanism of magnetization, induced or remanent, was largely unknown. For computational ease these anomalies were considered to result solely from induced magnetization. However, recent results from Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), a magnetometer-bearing mission to Mars, have revealed crustal anomalies with dimensions similar to the largest anomalies on Earth. These Martian features could only have been produced by remanent magnetization, since Mars lacks an inducing field. The origin of long-wavelength crustal anomalies, however, has not been completely determined. Several large crustal magnetic anomalies (e.g., Bangui, Kursk, Kiruna and Central Europe) will be discussed and the role of future satellite magnetometer missions (Orsted, SUNSAT and Champ) in their interpretation evaluated.

Taylor, Patrick T.↗

NASA NTRS1999

A Review of Magnetic Anomaly Field Data for the Arctic Region: Geological Implications

Due to its inaccessibility and hostile physical environment remote sensing data, both airborne and satellite measurements, has been the main source of geopotential data over the entire Arctic region. Ubiquitous and significant external fields, however, hinder crustal magnetic field studies. These potential field data have been used to derive tectonic models for the two major tectonic sectors of this region, the Amerasian and Eurasian Basins. The latter is dominated by the Nansen-Gakkel or Mid-Arctic Ocean Ridge and is relatively well known. The origin and nature of the Alpha and Mendeleev Ridges, Chukchi Borderland and Canada Basin of the former are less well known and a subject of controversy. The Lomonosov Ridge divides these large provinces. In this report we will present a summary of the Arctic geopotential anomaly data derived from various sources by various groups in North America and Europe and show how these data help us unravel the last remaining major puzzle of the global plate tectonic framework. While Magnetic anomaly data represent the main focus of this study recently derived satellite gravity data (Laxon and McAdoo, 1998) are playing a major role in Arctic studies.

Taylor, Patrick T.↗

NASA NTRS1999

A Review of Magnetic Anomaly Field Data for the Arctic Region: Geological Implications

Due to its inaccessibility and hostile physical environment remote sensing data, both airborne and satellite measurements, has been the main source of geopotential data over the entire Arctic region. Ubiquitous and significant external fields, however, hinder crustal magnetic field studies These potential field data have been used to derive tectonic models for the two major tectonic sectors of this region, the Amerasian and Eurasian Basins. The latter is dominated by the Nansen-Gakkel or Mid-Arctic Ocean Ridge and is relatively well known. The origin and nature of the Alpha and Mendeleev Ridges, Chukchi Borderland and Canada Basin of the former are less well known and a subject of controversy. The Lomonosov Ridge divides these large provinces. In this report we will present a summary of the Arctic geopotential anomaly data derived from various sources by various groups in North America and Europe and show how these data help us unravel the last remaining major puzzle of the global plate tectonic framework. While magnetic anomaly data represent the main focus of this study recently derived satellite gravity data are playing a major role in Arctic studies.

Taylor, Patrick T.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Mesoscale roughness of Venus

The global distribution of multi-kilometer (approx. 9 km) length scale 'roughness' (hereafter mesoscale roughness or MR) on Venus can be estimated from the Magellan global altimetry dataset (GxDR) and then compared with MR data derived for Earth from 5' ETOP5 data and for Mars (from USGS Mars DTM dataset). The mesoscale roughness parameter (MR) represents the RMS variance in meters of the actual planetary surface topography relative to the best fitting tangent plane defined on the basis of a 3x3 pixel sliding window. The best-fit plane was computed using a least-squares solution which minimizes delta H, the sum of the squares of the differences between the 9 local elevation values (H(sub i)), and the elevation of best-fit plane at the same grid location. Using the best-fit plane and delta H, we have computed the RMS 'roughness' var(delta R), where this parameter is always minimized on the basis of its calculation using least squares. We have called this 'ruggedness' parameter the Mesoscale Roughness (MR) because it is directly related to the high-frequency variance of topography after mesoscale slopes and tilts (i.e., for Venus, the baseline over which MR is computed (dx) is approx. 8.8 km and dx for Earth is approx. 9.3 km) are removed. As such, MR represents the degree to which a planetary surface is more rugged than approximately 10 km scale facets or tilts. It should not be confused with the radar 'RMS Roughness' parameter computed at 0.1 to 10 m length scales on the basis of the Magellan radar altimeter echo. We will use our MR parameter to investigate the global ruggedness properties of Venus as they relate to geological provinces and in comparison with the spatial pattern of MR for Earth and Mars.

Garvin, J. B.↗