System of Gigantic Valleys northwest of Tharsis, Mars: Latent catastrophic flooding, northwest watershed, and implications for Northern Plains Ocean

A volcanic origin for the outflow channels of Mars: Key evidence and major implications

“…Nevertheless, on the basis of expected flow conditions and empirical relations such as the scaled Manning equation (Komar, 1979;, discharge rates are estimated to have reached~10 6 to 10 10 m 3 /s (e.g., Carr, 1979;Komar, 1979;Baker, 1982;Robinson and Tanaka, 1990;Baker et al, 1991;Carr, 1996;Komatsu and Baker, 1997;Dohm et al, 2000;Burr, 2003;Head et al, 2003;Andrews-Hanna and Phillips, 2007;Harrison and Grimm, 2008;Mangold et al, 2008;Wilson et al, 2009). The highest of these estimates are orders of magnitude larger than those of known terrestrial floods and are instead comparable to the rates of ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream (Baker, 2001(Baker, , p. 230, 2009c.…”

Morphogenesis of Antarctic Paleosols: Martian Analogue

“…Although present-day conditions are predominately characterized by a thin atmosphere, an extremely cold climate, and pervasive eolian modification, the identification of groups of stratigraphically young smallscale features, including gullies, alluvial fans, and debris flows (Malin and Edgett 2000), and valleys and associated lava flows (e.g., Hartmann 1999) may indicate a recently geologically active Mars. The geologic history of Mars, dominated by magmatic-driven processes and impact events (e.g., Scott and Tanaka 1986, Tanaka 1990, Barlow and Bradley 1990, Scott and Zimbelman 1995, Scott et al 1998, Dohm and Tanaka 1999, is largely expressed through gigantic volcanic edifices and lava flows, valley networks, and immense outflow channel systems, fault and rift systems, drainage basins, enormous canyon systems, dune fields, mass wasting, and putative oceans, seas, lakes, and ice sheets (Milton 1974, Baker 1982, Jöns 1986, Tanaka 1990, Baker et al 1991, Lucchitta et al 1992, Parker et al 1993, Kargel et al 1995Dohm and Tanaka 1999, Head III et al 1999, Dohm et al 2000b. Abundant evidence for the formation of lakes, including associated deltaic sedimentation has been found in martian impact craters (e.g., Carr 1996, Cabrol et al 1998, Cabrol and Grin 2001.…”

“…boundary; broad zone as defined through geologic mapping, but distinct using MOLA data), Thaumasia plateau, Valles Marineris, transition zone (Argyre-impact moidified region that separates the Thaumasia plateau from the Argyre basin proper), the newly identified outflow channel system (NSVs; Dohm et al 2000b), and Hellas impact basin.…”

Episodic flood inundations of the northern plains of Mars

“…Long-term aqueous activity on the surface of the planet is indicated by fluvial (e.g., Mars Channel Working Group, 1983;Edgett, 2000a, 2000b) and lacustrine features (e.g., Squyres, 1989;Grin, 1999, 2001); phased degradation of impact craters (e.g., Chapman and Jones, 1977;Craddock and Maxwell, 1993); permafrost (e.g., Lucchitta, 1981); periglacial (e.g., Squyres, 1979) and glacial landforms (e.g., Lucchitta, 1982;Kargel et al, 1995); and outflow channels (e.g., Baker and outflow channels, which either terminate at the boundary (Parker et al, 1993) or fade into the northern plains (Ivanov and Head, 2001), including the prominent circum-Chryse (e.g., Rotto and Tanaka, 1995) and recently identified northwestern slope valleys (NSVs, Dohm et al, 2000Dohm et al, , 2001a outflow channel systems; (3) the relatively low density of superposed impact craters in the northern plains compared to the southern densely cratered highlands (Barlow and Bradley, 1990;Parker et al, 1993), and its extremely flat topography at the distal reaches of the outflow channel systems (Head et al, 1999); (4) the broad occurrence of wide age-ranging glaciers that are interpreted to be linked to magmatic-triggered flooding and associated short-lived (tens of thousands of years) environmental/climatic changes (Baker, 2001;Cabrol et al, 2001aCabrol et al, , 2001bCabrol et al, , 2001c; and (5) the chemical signatures reported for the northern plains, including high abundances of S and Cl or the possible existence of sulphate minerals and chloride salts, making a putative andesite-rich component or weathered basalt the dominant material type in the lowlands (McSween et al, 1999;Zuber, 2001;Wyatt and McSween, 2002). Standing bodies of water, therefore, best explain such evidence, though volcanism , tectonism (Sleep, 1994), eolian modification (Malin and Edgett, 2000a), ground volatile and debris flow activity along the highland-lowland boundary (Tanaka, 1997;…”