Publication Date:
2016-08-19
Description:
Correlative width-discharge relationships from the Missouri River Basin are commonly used to estimate fluvial paleodischarge on Mars. However, hydraulic geometry provides alternative, and causal, width-discharge relationships derived from broader samples of channels, including those in reduced-gravity (submarine) environments. Comparison of these relationships implies that causal relationships from hydraulic geometry should yield more accurate and more precise discharge estimates. Our remote analysis of a Martian-terrestrial analog channel, combined with in situ discharge data, substantiates this implication. Applied to Martian features, these results imply paleodischarges of interior channels of Noachian-Hesperian (~3.7 Ga) valley networks have been underestimated by a factor of several, whereas paleodischarges for smaller fluvial deposits of the Late Hesperian-Early Amazonian (~3.0 Ga) have been overestimated. Thus, these new paleodischarges significantly magnify the contrast between early and late Martian hydrologic activity. Width-discharge relationships from hydraulic geometry represent validated tools for quantifying fluvial input near candidate landing sites of upcoming missions.
Print ISSN:
0094-8276
Electronic ISSN:
1944-8007
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
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