At this year’s AGU meeting, to be held December 11-15 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Elsevier will host several presentations promoting the research of current book authors at Booth #431. The presentations will last about 10 minutes each and provide the opportunity for authors to present their book contributions in a more casual setting. The majority of the talks will be by contributors for the upcoming reference book Dynamic Mars: Recent and Current Landscape Evolution of the Red Planet, edited by Richard Soare, Susan Conway, and Stephen Clifford, but will also include a meet and greet with Dr. Srikanta Mishra to discuss his recently published book Applied Statistical Modeling and Data Analytics: A Practical Guide for Petroleum Geosciences. See details of each talk below and be sure to stop by the booth to hear the talks throughout the meeting!

Tuesday, December 12

10:05-10:15 – Ganna Portyankina, Researcher at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, kicks us off with her discussion of CO2-driven Geomorphological Processes, addressing landscape changes observed in martian polar and mid-latitude regions that are related to CO2 seasonal cycle. This includes discussion of araneiform creation and current evolution, furrows, high latitude gullies, creation of alcoves on polar dunes, residual polar scarp avalanches, and expansion of polar pits informally called “swiss cheese”.

12:30-1:00 – Srikanta Mishra, Institute Fellow and Chief Scientist (Energy) at Battelle Memorial Institute, hosts a meet and greet about his book Applied Statistical Modeling and Data Analytics: A Practical Guide for Petroleum Geosciences. Dr. Mishra will be available to discuss his research and answer questions about the book, which provides a practical guide to many of the classical and modern statistical techniques that have become established for oil and gas professionals in recent years. It serves as a “how to” reference volume for the practicing petroleum engineer or geoscientist interested in applying statistical methods in formation evaluation, reservoir characterization, reservoir modeling and management, and uncertainty quantification.

1:30-1:40 – James Garvin, Chief Scientist of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, discusses the epilogue to Dynamic Mars and what to expect in the future of Mars exploration. The “new” Mars is recognized as a dynamic world at a diversity of scales, in both space and time.  Projecting what we are learning about Mars with the missions of today ahead 25-30 years, a further awakening is possible.   Mars as the penultimate “cryo-ocean world” with episodes of widespread, persistent surface water punctuated by long periods in which the signs of water (and ice) are hidden could emerge, with implications for how signs of present or past biology could be discovered.

3:45-3:55 – David Stillman, Senior Research Scientist at the Southwest Research Institute discusses Unraveling the Mysteries of Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL) [on Mars]. Recurring slope lineae (RSL) are narrow dark features that incrementally lengthen down dust-poor steep slopes when temperatures are warm. They subsequently fade during cooler seasons and recur annually. This discussion includes possible formation mechanisms based on observations of 748 candidate and confirmed RSL sites.

Wednesday, December 13

10:05-10:15 — Jean-Pierre Williams, Associate Researcher in UCLA’s Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences department, discusses Modification of the [Mars] Surface by Impact Cratering. Impact cratering is a pervasive geologic process that continually modifies the martian surface. Meters to tens-of-meters scale craters have been observed to form during the lifetimes of the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter missions providing direct observations of the present-day martian impact rate on a decadal timescale. Landscape modification by larger, higher energy impact events that occur on million year time scales are observed to be far reaching.

3:45-3:55 – Michael Mischna, Group Supervisor at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory discusses Orbital Climatic Forcing and it’s Imprint on the Global [Mars] Landscape. There is substantial observational and theoretical evidence to suggest that there have been dramatic, and regular, shifts in Mars’ climate that would have periodically made the Mars of the past unrecognizable to modern day observers. This presentation reviews the history of Mars climate observations and our current understanding of how the martian climate evolves with time, focusing on recent Mars history covering the past several tens of millions of years.

Thursday, December 14

10:05-10:15 – Tanya Harrison, Research Associate at Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, rounds out the presentations with a discussion of Martian Gullies and their Connection with the Martian Climate. Since the discovery of gullies on Mars nearly two decades ago, their study has evolved significantly. This discussion reviews various hypotheses and critically examines them in light of all currently available population-scale data and new climate simulations.

Use discount code EARTH17 at Elsevier.com to get 30% off the purchase of Dynamic Mars or Applied Statistical Modeling and Data Analytics! See you in New Orleans!