Martian outflow channels: How did their source aquifers form, and why did they drain so rapidly?

ABSTRACT: Catastrophic floods generated ~3.2 Ga by rapid groundwater evacuation scoured the Solar System's most voluminous channels, the southern circum-Chryse outflow channels. Based on Viking Orbiter data analysis, it was hypothesized that these outflows emanated from a global Hesperian cryosphere-confined aquifer that was infused by south polar meltwater infiltration into the planet's upper crust. In this model, the outflow channels formed along zones of superlithostatic pressure generated by pronounced elevation differences around the Highland-Lowland Dichotomy Boundary. However, the restricted geographic location of the channels indicates that these conditions were not uniform. Furthermore, some outflow channel sources are too high to have been fed by south polar basal melting. Using more recen

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4562069 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature