Sarah Sutton, currently a research scientist at the Lunar & Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, is awarded the 2022 Pellas-Ryder Award for her paper titled "Sinuous channels east of Olympus Mons, Mars: Implications for volcanic, hydrological, and tectonic processes" published in Icarus in 2022. Sarah received her PhD from the University of Arizona in May 2022 and continues to work there as a photogrammetry and image processing scientist. Sarah examined the channels and fossae on the volcanic plains east of Olympus Mons, Mars, to determine their origin by volcanic or fluvial processes using HiRISE and CTX data. She found that the channels displayed three types of morphologies: two of these types were consistent with lava channels, while the third type was consistent with a fluvial origin "likely sourced from erupted groundwater that entrained regolith in lahar-like flows". Her studies of the fossae revealed surface fractures linked to dike and sill emplacement. Her paper was commended for being detailed, well-organized and clearly illustrated, and for providing such detailed insights into martian geology using cross-cutting relations.
The Pellas-Ryder Award is jointly sponsored by The Meteoritical Society and the Planetary Geology Division of the Geological Society of America. Sarah Sutton will receive a certificate at the Geological Society of America's Annual Meeting in Denver, USA.