Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Geology & Geophysics
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
Geomorphology, the study of Earth’s surface forms and processes, is a significant geologic discipline to understand how landscapes change and evolve. Within geomorphology, planetary geomorphology extends these observations beyond Earth. Planetary geomorphology expands our understanding of surface processes across diverse environments, while Earth’s geomorphology provides decades of ground-truth data and field-based validation for planetary studies. Building on this foundation, my dissertation research investigates the geomorphology of pit complexes on Pluto and paleo fluvial systems on Mars.
Chapter 1 focuses on the geomorphology of pit complexes in Pioneer Terra, Pluto, to investigate the plausibility of these pits forming due to analogous seepage processes on Earth that are potentially driven by subsurface volatile reservoirs. These findings could have important implications for the understanding of material exchange between the subsurface, surface, and atmosphere of icy worlds throughout the solar system.
Chapters 2 and 3 focus on inverted fluvial deposits preserved as sinuous ridges in Aeolis Dorsa, Mars. Previous investigations of Martian rivers have focused on the search for Earth analogs and providing process-based inferences. However, since Earth and Martian environments are not similar, such as the absence of vegetation and reduced atmospheric density and gravity environment, many assumptions are made to allow for comparisons. This challenge presents two key issues that I address in my dissertation: 1) Inconsistent terminologies to describe the same morphology. For example, sinuous ridges in Aeolis Dorsa are interpreted as either river belts or single river features. These rigid categorizations force many important river morphologies to strictly conform to one of these end members, resulting in a limited understanding of fluvial systems and evolution. 2) A predominant focus on large-scale and present morphology, which provides only a time-integrated view of paleo fluvial deposits, without considering their dynamic nature. While these previous studies of paleo rivers in Aeolis Dorsa have provided interpretations of the large-scale paleoclimate and river processes, the fine-temporal resolution of fluvial processes and meander dynamics remain unknown. These findings address the current lack of such analyses for Martian rivers that will contribute to the fundamental question of ancient climate conditions that controlled ancient river-forming environments on Mars.
Date
3-26-2026
Recommended Citation
Manogaran, Roodra, "Unraveling the Geomorphology of Pluto's Pit Complex and Martian Rivers" (2026). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 7047.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/7047
Committee Chair
Karunatillake, Suniti
LSU Acknowledgement
1
LSU Accessibility Acknowledgment
1