Loose sand, blown away from source regions by winds, is transported across Mars's surface into sand sheets and dunes and accumulates within topographic sinks. In the absence of plate tectonics, impact craters constitute a dominant sink for windblown sediments on Mars today. We analyzed the volume of all mapped eolian sands in martian craters >1 km in diameter to reveal spatiotemporal patterns of sediment accumulation on the planet's surface. We combined our results with global climate simulations, maps of depth to the ice table and dust cover, as well as lithologic and age information of the underlying geologic units, to better understand the controls on intracrater sand accumulation rates. We find that crater age, latitude, and lithology influence the accumulation rate of windblown sand and, notably, that it is enhanced in mechanically weaker substrates, high-latitude craters (suggesting that modern cryogenic processes may enhance sand production), and in Late Noachian and Early Hesperian craters (possibly hinting at increased erosion rates at that time).

中文翻译：

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火星撞击坑中风沙的堆积

松散的沙子被风从源头区域吹走，穿过火星表面进入沙层和沙丘，并积聚在地形水槽中。在没有板块构造的情况下，撞击坑构成了今天火星上风吹沉积物的主要汇。我们分析了直径大于 1 公里的火星陨石坑中所有绘制的风成沙的体积，以揭示地球表面沉积物积累的时空模式。我们将我们的结果与全球气候模拟、冰层和尘埃覆盖的深度图以及潜在地质单元的岩性和年龄信息相结合，以更好地了解对火山口内积沙率的控制。我们发现火山口年龄、纬度和岩性会影响风沙的堆积速度，尤其是，