Thermal conductivity measurements of particulate materials: 3. Natural samples and mixtures of particle sizes

A line‐heat source apparatus was used to measure thermal conductivities of natural fluvial and eolian particulate sediments under low pressures of a carbon dioxide atmosphere. These measurements were compared to a previous compilation of the dependence of thermal conductivity on particle size to determine a thermal conductivity‐derived particle size for each sample. Actual particle‐size distributions were determined via physical separation through brass sieves. Comparison of the two analyses indicates that the thermal conductivity reflects the larger particles within the samples. In each sample at least 85–95% of the particles by weight are smaller than or equal to the thermal conductivity‐derived particle size. At atmospheric pressures less than about 2–3 torr, samples that contain a large amount of small particles (≤125 μm or 4 Φ) exhibit lower thermal conductivities relative to those for the larger particles within the sample. Nonetheless, 90% of the sample by weight still consists of particles that are smaller than or equal to this lower thermal conductivity‐derived particle size. These results allow further refinement in the interpretation of geomorphologic processes acting on the Martian surface. High‐energy fluvial environments should produce poorer‐sorted and coarser‐grained deposits than lower energy eolian environments. Hence these results will provide additional information that may help identify coarser‐grained fluvial deposits and may help differentiate whether channel dunes are original fluvial sediments that are at most reworked by wind or whether they represent a later overprint of sediment with a separate origin.