MANY REGIONS OF THE MARTIAN HIGHLANDS CONTAIN VAST FLAT-LYING EXPOSURES OF BEDROCK OF UNCERTAIN ORIGIN. THESE BEDROCK UNITS HOLD BROAD SIGNIFICANCE FOR UNDERSTANDING NOACHIAN TERRAINS AND PROCESSES BECAUSE THEY ARE WIDESPREAD AND PHYSICOCHEMICALLY DISTINCTIVE; YET PRESENTLY THEY ARE NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD. A NUMBER OF FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS REMAIN ABOUT HOW AND WHEN THESE INTACT UNITS WERE FORMED MODIFIED PRESERVED AND EXPOSED. IN ADDITION MANY OF THESE BEDROCK EXPOSURES HAVE FULL OR PARTIAL SPATIAL CORRESPONDENCE WITH LATE NOACHIAN HIGHLAND (LNH) UNITS MAPPED BY IRWIN ET AL. (2013) AND TANAKA ET AL. (2014). HOWEVER MORE LNH UNITS LACK HIGH THERMAL INERTIA (BEDROCK) EXPOSURES. IS THE VARIABILITY IN THE PRESENCE/ABSENCE OF BEDROCK AMONG LNH UNITS DUE TO SPATIAL DIFFERENCES IN THE STYLE OF LN RESURFACING? OR DID MOST LNH UNITS FORM IN A SIMILAR MANNER BUT ARE IN A VARYING STATES OF EXPOSURE? IN THIS WORK WE FOCUS ON BETTER CONSTRAINING SOME OF THE KEY VARIABLES (WIND EROSION BURIAL EVENTS AND MATERIAL STRENGTH) THAT AFFECT INTERPRETATIONS OF BEDROCK ORIGIN(S) PRESERVATION AND EXPOSURE. THROUGH A COMBINATION OF SPECTRAL THERMOPHYSICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL MAPPING CRATER STATISTICS AND GLOBAL/MESOSCALE ATMOSPHERIC MODELING EFFORTS WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE ROLES OF BURIAL/ EXHUMATION DEFLATION AND MATERIAL STRENGTH (WHICH IS LINKED TO BEDROCK ORIGIN) IN GIVING RISE TO THE PRESENT-DAY SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF BEDROCK IN THE MARTIAN HIGHLANDS. SPECIFICALLY WE WILL ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: 1. IS THERE MORPHOLOGICAL OR COMPOSITIONAL EVIDENCE FOR HOW BEDROCK EXPOSURES WERE PRESERVED AND EXPOSED? 2. WHY DO SOME LNH SURFACES LACK HIGH THERMAL INERTIA EXPOSURES? DO THEY REPRESENT (A) LATE NOACHIAN CRUSTAL RESURFACING BY A PROCESS THAT IS DISTINCT FROM THAT WHERE HIGHER-TI EXPOSURES ARE FOUND (B) OLIVINE BEDROCK THAT HAS EXPERIENCED LESS REGOLITH DEFLATION OR (C) THIN/PATCHILY MANTLED OLIVINE BEDROCK THAT HAS NOT BEEN FULLY EXHUMED? 3. ARE THERE DIFFERENCES IN THE TIMING AND MAGNITUDE OF NEAR SURFACE PROCESSES THAT MODIFIED EACH TERRAIN UNIT? HOW DOES THE SIZE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF SMALLER <1 KM DIAMETER CRATERS COMPARE TO THE MORE REGIONAL COUNTS THAT ARE CLASSICALLY USED TO CONSTRAIN NOACHIAN AGES FOR THESE UNITS? 4. CAN THE SPATIAL VARIABILITY IN BEDROCK EXPOSURE AMONG LNH UNITS BE EXPLAINED BY SPATIAL VARIATIONS IN THE EROSIVE STRENGTH OF THE WIND DURING THE LATE AMAZONIAN? 5. CAN THE SPATIAL VARIABILITY IN REGOLITH THICKNESS BETWEEN THE OLIVINE-BEARING BEDROCK UNITS AND SURROUNDING LOWER TI UNITS BE EXPLAINED BY LOCAL SCALE SPATIAL VARIATIONS IN THE EROSIVE STRENGTH OF THE WIND DURING THE LATE AMAZONIAN? OR ARE OTHER MECHANISMS (E.G. DIFFERENCES IN MECHANICAL PROPERTIES BETWEEN OLIVINE BEDROCK AND ADJACENT UNITS) REQUIRED? WE WILL ADDRESS THESE QUESTIONS IN A THREE-YEAR STUDY THROUGH THE FOLLOWING OBJECTIVES: 1) SYSTEMATICALLY DOCUMENT AND CHARACTERIZE THE MORPHOLOGIES AND STRATIGRAPHY IN THE VICINITY OF BEDROCK EXPOSURES AND NON-BEDROCK-CONTAINING NOACHIAN PLAINS UNITS ACROSS KEY REGIONS OF THE MARTIAN HIGHLANDS 2) QUANTIFY THE MAGNITUDE AND TIMING OF SURFACE PROCESSES THAT AFFECTED NOACHIAN BEDROCK AND LOWER THERMAL INERTIA UNITS AND 3) DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LATE AMAZONIAN WIND EROSION POTENTIAL AND PRESENT-DAY BEDROCK EXPOSURE IN THE MARTIAN HIGHLANDS. BY STUDYING THE ORIGIN(S) PRESERVATION AND EXPOSURE HISTORIES OF THESE UNITS OUR PROPOSED WORK WILL CONTRIBUTE TO DEVELOPING A FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF A GLOBALLY IMPORTANT SUITE OF MARTIAN CRUSTAL MATERIALS AND WILL PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO THE COMPLEX NOACHIAN HISTORY OF MARS. THE PROPOSED INVESTIGATION WILL ENHANCE SCIENTIFIC RETURN FROM MARS ODYSSEY MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR MARS EXPRESS AND MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER MISSIONS THROUGH GEOLOGIC ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS OF DATA FROM THOSE MISSIONS AND THUS IS RELEVANT TO THE MARS DATA ANALYSIS PROGRAM.