Evaluation of paleohydrologic models for terrestrial inverted channels: Implications for application to martian sinuous ridges

Sedimentology and climatic environment of alluvial fans in the martian Saheki crater and a comparison with terrestrial fans in the Atacama Desert

“…Consistent with channelized flow, we interpret these features as fluvial distributaries constituting the sediment dispersal backbone of the alluvial fans Moore and Howard, 2005;Williams et al, 2009bWilliams et al, , 2011 and the fact that most of these linear features are exposed as ridges to indicate they have been inverted by differential aeolian erosion. The channelized distributaries must have been embedded within finer and/or more poorly cemented deposits that were preferentially stripped.…”

River meandering on Earth and Mars: A comparative study of Aeolis Dorsa meanders, Mars and possible terrestrial analogs of the Usuktuk River, AK, and the Quinn River, NV

“…One counter argument for the QR as a potential analog for Martian meanders is that most of the meanders found on Mars are inverted. Inverted channels often form when bed sediment, which is usually coarser than the overlying finer floodplain sediment, is chemically cemented and then subsequently exposed by erosion of the finer surrounding materials (e.g., Williams (2007); Williams et al (2009)). Initially cohesionless bed sediment is commonly favored for subsequent cementation because of its permeability which encourages fluid migration.…”

“…Most of these are fragmentary or exhibit low sinuosity, but an extensive set of inverted sinuous channels is exposed in the Aeolis Dorsa region, centered at about 5°S and 150°E (Burr et al, 2009(Burr et al, , 2010Williams et al, 2009Williams et al, , 2013 (Fig. 1).…”

Paleohydrology of Eberswalde crater, Mars

“…Subsequent degradation, however, would not have significantly changed the meander dimensions. For these reasons, meander wavelength is more reliable than width for estimates of paleodischarge in this setting, but it is useful to examine relationships between meander dimensions and width and to estimate paleodischarge using multiple approaches (e.g., Williams et al, 2009). Williams (1988) listed empirical equations for the dimensions of terrestrial sinuous channels, along with the applicable ranges of the measured independent variables.…”

“…The stratigraphic relationship between the northern and southern meandering paleochannels is not clear. They appear to split from a common segment upstream, so they may not be far apart in age, but channel associations in inverted systems can be misleading, because of channel entrenchment and aggradation over time (e.g., Williams et al, 2009). …”