Comparitive Study of the Geomorphological Characteristics of Valley Networks between Mars and the Qaidam Basin

Abstract

The complex valley networks that cross the Martian surface offer geomorphologic evidence of the presence of liquid water at some point in its history. However, the derivation of both temporal and hydrological dimensions of this climate phase is far from settled. Studies comparing terrestrial fluvial networks of known formation environments with those on Mars can be used as a key to unlock the past. This work represents an analogy study and comparison between the river networks in the Qaidam Basin and those on Mars. As the Martian valley networks formed in different geologic periods with characteristic and unique features, three cases from the Noachian to the Amazonian were selected to be compared with streams in the Mangya area, where the climate is extremely arid. In terms of the maturity of the dendritic river system, shape, concave index, and branching angle (BA), the valley network in the Mangya area is comparable to Naktong Vallis, dated to the Hesperian. We also calculated throughout the valley networks on Mars the parameters of the BA and the concave index, both of which are important climatic indicators. The results show that the climate on Mars became progressively more arid, starting from the Noachian up to the Amazonian.

Microbial diversity and adaptive strategies in the Mars‐like Qaidam Basin, North Tibetan Plateau, China

“…Although the modern Martian surface is extremely dry and cold, early Mars has been thought to contain potentially habitable environments (Cabrol, 2018;Fairén et al, 2010;Knoll & Grotzinger, 2006;Solomon et al, 2005). The Qaidam Basin is an analogue of the Late Noachian-Early Hesperian Mars (Chen et al, 2021), which is an intermediate episode on Mars between early habitable environments and modern harsh environments (Cabrol, 2018). Adaptive strategies of microbial life in the Qaidam Basin identified from this study and previous studies on other Mars analogues (Ji et al, 2017;Lynch et al, 2012Lynch et al, , 2014Ortiz et al, 2021) suggest that, if life ever existed on early Mars, during the transition episode they might coevolve with shifting environments and evolve highly specific communities and functions in response to harsh conditions.…”

Trajectory Recovery and Terrain Reconstruction Based on Descent Images under Dual-Restrained Conditions: Tianwen-1

“…The Red Cliff area is located in the Dachaidan region of Qinghai Province, China. It is the first Mars simulation basement in China and has topographic of great value for studying planetary landforms [46]. Before aerial photography, a number of checkerboard grid plastic boards were deployed as ground control points (Figure 6).…”

Yeast Diversity in the Qaidam Basin Desert in China with the Description of Five New Yeast Species

“…This area harbors Mars-like extreme environments, e.g., hyper-arid, salt deposits, and high-UV, and similar mineral compositions and geomorphological structures to terrains on Mars [ 12 , 35 ]. The geology, geophysiology, and chemistry of the Qaidam Basin have been well characterized [ 36 , 37 , 38 ], and microbial diversities focusing on bacteria and archaea in different parts of this area using culture-independent methods have been performed in recent years [ 39 , 40 , 41 ]. However, the fungal diversity in the Qaidam Basin remains to be revealed.…”