A Diverse Array of Fluvial Depositional Systems in Arabia Terra: Evidence for mid-Noachian to Early Hesperian Rivers on Mars
Average rating
Cast your vote
You can rate an item by clicking the amount of stars they wish to award to
this item.
When enough users have cast their vote on this item, the average rating will also be shown.
Star rating
Your vote was cast
Thank you for your feedback
Thank you for your feedback
Issue date
22/07/2019Submitted date
2019-10-10Subject Terms
Marsfluvial
climate
inverted channels
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Branching to sinuous ridges systems, hundreds of kilometers in length and comprising layered strata, are present across much of Arabia Terra, Mars. These ridges are interpreted as depositional fluvial channels, now preserved as inverted topography. Here we use high‐resolution image and topographic data sets to investigate the morphology of these depositional systems and show key examples of their relationships to associated fluvial landforms. The inverted channel systems likely comprise indurated conglomerate, sandstone, and mudstone bodies, which form a multistory channel stratigraphy. The channel systems intersect local basins and indurated sedimentary mounds, which we interpret as paleolake deposits. Some inverted channels are located within erosional valley networks, which have regional and local catchments. Inverted channels are typically found in downslope sections of valley networks, sometimes at the margins of basins, and numerous different transition morphologies are observed. These relationships indicate a complex history of erosion and deposition, possibly controlled by changes in water or sediment flux, or base‐level variation. Other inverted channel systems have no clear preserved catchment, likely lost due to regional resurfacing of upland areas. Sediment may have been transported through Arabia Terra toward the dichotomy and stored in local and regional‐scale basins. Regional stratigraphic relations suggest these systems were active between the mid‐Noachian and early Hesperian. The morphology of these systems is supportive of an early Mars climate, which was characterized by prolonged precipitation and runoff.Citation
Davis, J. M., Gupta, S., Balme, M., Grindrod, P. M., Fawdon, P., Dickeson, Z. I., & Williams, R. M. E. ( 2019). A diverse array of fluvial depositional systems in Arabia Terra: Evidence for mid‐Noachian to early Hesperian rivers on Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 124, 1913– 1934. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JE005976Publisher
WileyType
Journal ArticleItem Description
©2019. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The attached file is the published pdf.NHM Repository
ISSN
2169-9097EISSN
2169-9100ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1029/2019JE005976
Scopus Count
Collections