Elena Favaro

About

I am a Research Fellow at the European Space Agency. My research focuses on understanding planetary surface processes through remote sensing, in-situ observations, and planetary analouge field work in some of the most remote places on Earth.

Selected publications

Section under construction

• 2024
  Periodic Bedrock Ridges at Oxia Planum and Chryse Planitia, Mars: Evidence for widespread aeolian erosion of an ancient surface by regional palaeowinds.
  Favaro, E.A., Balme, M.R., Davis, J.M., Grindrod, P.M., Fawdon, P., McNeil, J.D., & Lewis, S.R.
  Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 626, 118522. · 2025
  Summary
  From the Abstract: Periodic Bedrock Ridges (PBRs) are repeating, symmetrical, wind-transverse, bedrock-abraded linear ridges that occur on Mars as parallel sets. Here, we extend our previous survey of PBRs at Oxia Planum – the landing site of ESA's ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover – to include three additional sites along the margins of the circum-Chryse basin to understand patterns in PBR orientation and occurrence. We analyzed PBR crestline orientation at each study site and found them to be consistent across this large region, but their orientations do not align with global circulation model winds, suggesting contemporary winds are not responsible for PBR development. Furthermore, we used observations of landscape-level stratigraphic relationships at Oxia Planum to constrain the formation age of PBRs to be late Noachian to early Amazonian. Their consistent orientations and age suggest that the Chryse-margin PBRs formed concurrently and represent modification of an ancient palaeosurface. In addition, we find a tendency for PBRs to preferentially occur in regions where Fe/Mg-rich phyllosilicate minerals were detected in hyperspectral remote sensing data. We conclude that regional scale aeolian processes formed the circum-Chryse PBRs, and that exposed bedrock with Fe/Mg-rich phyllosilicate detections were either more susceptible to PBR formation, or better preserve PBRs than other regional lithologies. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118522
• 2021
  Antecedent controls on the spatial organization of yardangs on the Puna Plateau, north‐western Argentina.
  Favaro, E. A., Hugenholtz, C. H., & Barchyn, T. E.
  Earth Surface Processes and Landforms · 2021
  Summary
  Summary to come. DOI: 10.1002/esp.5212
• 2021
  The Aeolian Environment of the Landing Site for the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover in Oxia Planum, Mars.
  Favaro, E. A., Balme, M. R., Davis, J. M., Grindrod, P. M., Fawdon, P., Barrett, A. M., & Lewis, S. R.
  Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets · 2021
  Summary
  Summary to come. DOI: 10.1029/2020JE006723
• 2020
  Wind regime, sediment transport, and landscape dynamics at a Mars analogue site in the Andes Mountains of Northwestern Argentina.
  Favaro, E. A., Hugenholtz, C. H., Barchyn, T. E., & Gough, T. R.
  Icarus · 2020
  Summary
  Summary to come. DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2020.113765

Brief CV

• 2024 – Present
  European Space Agency Research Fellow / Noordwijk, Netherlands.
• 2020 – 2023
  Postdoctoral Research Associate The Open University Planetary Environments Group / Milton Keynes, UK.
• 2014 – 2020
  Doctor of Philosophy (Geography) University of Calgary / Calgary, Alberta.