Inverted stream channels in the Western Desert of Egypt: Synergistic remote, field observations and laboratory analysis on Earth with applications to Mars

Zaki, Abdallah S.; Pain, C. F.; Edgett, K. S.; Giegengack, Robert

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2018.03.001

Cited by 27 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Most previous studies of terrestrial sinuous ridges have focused on fluvial sedimentology, due to the excellent outcrop exposure, with little attention paid to ridge formation (e.g., Stokes, 1961;Derr, 1974;Harris, 1980;Friend et al, 1979;Friend, 1989;Maizels, 1987Maizels, , 1990Mohrig et al, 2000;Cuevas Martinez et al, 2010). Some recent work has addressed these landforms as analogs for Mars (Pain et al, 2007;Williams et al, 2007;DiBiase et al, 2013;Zaki et al, 2018) including the role of cementation in forming the ridges (Clarke and Stoker, 2011; A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T 6 4/18/2019 12:45 PM Williams et al, 2011). Although they did not seek to directly test the deposit and channel inversion models, Williams et al (2009), working on ridges of the Cedar Mountain Formation in Utah, showed discrepancies between paleo-hydraulic reconstruction techniques that utilize ridge morphology versus deposit sedimentology, and cautioned against some of the common assumptions made in the channel inversion hypothesis on Mars.…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation of sinuous ridges by inversion of river-channel belts in Utah, USA, with implications for Mars

Hayden

Lamb

Fischer

et al. 2019

Icarus

154

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Sinuous ridges are important landforms on the surface of Mars that show promise for quantifying ancient martian surface hydrology. Morphological similarity of these ridges to river channels in planform led to a hypothesis that ridges are topographically inverted river channels, or "inverted channels", formed due to an erosion-resistant channel-filling material that preserved a snapshot of the channel geometry in inverted relief due to differential erosion. An alternative depositinversion hypothesis proposes that ridges represent exhumed river-channel belts, with geometries that reflect the lateral migration and vertical aggradation of rivers over significant geologic time, rather than the original channel geometry. To investigate these hypotheses we studied sinuous ridges within the Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation near Green River, Utah, USA. Ridges in Utah extend for hundreds of meters, are up to 120 meters wide, and stand up to 39 meters above the surrounding plain. Ridges are capped by sandstone bodies 3-10 meters thick that contain dune-and bar-scale inclined stratification, which we interpret as eroded remnants of channel ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 2 4/18/2019 12:45 PM belts that record the migration and aggradation of single-thread, sand-bedded rivers, rather than channel fills that can preserve the original channel geometry. Caprocks overlie mudstones and thinner sandstone beds that are interpreted as floodplain deposits, and in cases additional channel-belt sandstones are present lower in the ridge stratigraphy. Apparent networks from branching ridges typically represent discrete sandstone bodies that cross at different stratigraphic levels rather than a coeval river network. Ridge-forming sandstone bodies also have been narrowed during exhumation by cliff retreat and bisected by fluvial erosion. Using a large compilation of channel-belt geometries on Earth and our measurements of ridges in Utah, we propose that caprock thickness is the most reliable indicator of paleo-channel geometry, and can be used to reconstruct river depth and discharge. In contrast, channel lateral migration and caprock erosion during exhumation make ridge breadth an uncertain proxy for channel width. An example in Aeolis Dorsa, Mars, illustrates that river discharge estimates based solely on caprock width may differ significantly from estimates based on caprock thickness. Overall, our study suggests that sinuous ridges are not inverted channel fills, but rather reflect exhumation of a thick stratigraphic package of stacked channel belts and overbank deposits formed from depositional rivers over significant geologic time.

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Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation of sinuous ridges by inversion of river-channel belts in Utah, USA, with implications for Mars

Hayden

Lamb

Fischer

et al. 2019

Icarus

154

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“…Recent interest in these landforms and other exhumed channel belts (e.g. Hayden et al , 2019; in Oman, Maizels, 1987, 1990; Maizels & McBean, 1990; in Egypt, Zaki et al , 2018) has partially been driven by high‐resolution images of morphologically similar ‘fluvial sinuous ridges’ on Mars (e.g. Burr et al , 2009; Davis et al , 2016; Cardenas et al , 2018; Hughes et al , 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The anatomy of exhumed river‐channel belts: Bedform to belt‐scale river kinematics of the Ruby Ranch Member, Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah, USA

et al. 2020

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Many published interpretations of ancient fluvial systems have relied on observations of extensive outcrops of thick successions. This paper, in contrast, demonstrates that a regional understanding of palaeoriver kinematics, depositional setting and sedimentation rates can be interpreted from local sedimentological measurements of bedform and barform strata. Dune and bar strata, channel planform geometry and bed topography are measured within exhumed fluvial strata exposed as ridges in the Ruby Ranch Member of the Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah, USA. The ridges are composed of lithified stacked channel belts, representing at least five or six re-occupations of a single-strand channel. Lateral sections reveal well-preserved barforms constructed of subaqueous dune cross-sets. The topography of palaeobarforms is preserved along the top surface of the outcrops. Comparisons of the channelbelt centreline to local palaeotransport directions indicate that channel planform geometry was preserved through the re-occupations, rather than being obscured by lateral migration. Rapid avulsions preserved the state of the active channel bed and its individual bars at the time of abandonment. Inferred minimum sedimentation durations for the preserved elements, inferred from crossset thickness distributions and assumed bedform migration rates, vary within a belt from one to ten days. Using only these local sedimentological measurements, the depositional setting is interpreted as a fluvial megafan, given the similarity in river kinematics. This paper provides a systematic methodology for the future synthesis of vertical and planview data, including the droneequipped 2020 Mars Rover mission, to exhumed fluvial and deltaic strata.

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“…Ridge deposits may hold paleoenvironmental information related to changing precipitation regimes. More broadly, there has been little reported research on exhumed paleochannels (Williams et al, 2007) although the identification of comparable features on Mars and their apparent importance for understanding the role of water in the early history of the planet has more recently encouraged their study on Earth (Clarke & Stocker, 2011; DiBiase et al, 2013; Mirino et al, 2018; Pain et al, 2007; Williams et al, 2007; Williams et al, 2009; Zaki et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Examples of comparable features in mountainous areas are stepped topography (Wahrhaftig, 1965), terrace development (Ritter, 1967), and inverted river channels in the Sierra Nevada of California (Busby et al, 2016; Giegengack, 1968; Lindgren, 1911; Whitney, 1880). Additional examples have been reported in Africa (Butt & Bristow, 2013; Giegengack & Zaki, 2017; Giegengack, 1968; Zaki & Giegengack, 2016; Zaki et al, 2018); Australia (Kemp & Rhodes, 2010); Europe (Cuevas et al, 2010; Friend et al, 1981); and North America (Williams et al, 2007). Inverted channels have been important in the study of past climate, in relation to paleo‐drainage systems (Williams et al, 2007; Williams et al, 2009; Zaki et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Earthen ridges in coastal sand dunes of the Caribbean coast, Venezuela: Anthropogenic or natural?

et al. 2020

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Earthen ridges that occur in the active Los Médanos de Coro dune fields of the Venezuelan Caribbean coast have been attributed either to anthropogenic or natural origins. Anthropogenic explanations have focused on their location, geometry, structure, and compaction, in the context of archaeological sites and artifacts throughout the dunes, to suggest an origin as causeways built by the extinct Caquetío people and/or their pre‐Hispanic ancestors. To assess this topic, geomorphic, physicochemical, and elemental analyses were carried out on the ridges and interdunal beaches and playas. The configuration, elevation, and composition of the ridges, along with three bulk sediment 14C dates that range 1900–3000 year BP, are here found to be most compatible with a natural origin as exhumed paleochannels. Past human occupants may, however, have used the features as causeways.

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Inverted stream channels in the Western Desert of Egypt: Synergistic remote, field observations and laboratory analysis on Earth with applications to Mars

Cited by 27 publications

References 32 publications

Formation of sinuous ridges by inversion of river-channel belts in Utah, USA, with implications for Mars

Formation of sinuous ridges by inversion of river-channel belts in Utah, USA, with implications for Mars

The anatomy of exhumed river‐channel belts: Bedform to belt‐scale river kinematics of the Ruby Ranch Member, Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah, USA

Earthen ridges in coastal sand dunes of the Caribbean coast, Venezuela: Anthropogenic or natural?

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