MARTIAN STEPPED FANS RECORD RAPID WATER RELEASE

2007 GSA Denver Annual Meeting (28–31 October 2007)
Paper No. 93-10

Presentation Time: 4:10 PM-4:25 PM

MARTIAN STEPPED FANS RECORD RAPID WATER RELEASE
KRAAL, Erin R.¹, VAN DIJK, Maurits², POSTMA, George², and KLEINHANS, Maarten², (1) Geosciences, Virginia Tech, 4404 Derring Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24060, ekraal@vt.edu, (2) Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, Utrecht, 3512 LM, Netherlands Martian stepped fans have a distinctive terraced profile. Using flume experiments, we find that distinct terraces form as a fan deposits into a crater basin filling with water. Terrace preservation implies no long-term deposition at a stable water level and an inactive fluvial system during water drainage. Based on scaling from our experiments, we estimate that the formation time for Martian stepped-fans is on the order of decades and conclude that stepped fans on Mars likely formed during a single, basin-filling event driven by a short-lived, intense hydrologic cycle. The estimated discharge rates are comparable to some of the largest rivers on Earth and these rates highlight the challenges of determining the water source.
2007 GSA Denver Annual Meeting (28–31 October 2007) General Information for this Meeting

Session No. 93 Evidence of Climatic and Tectonic Change Recorded in Alluvial Fans Colorado Convention Center: 406 1:30 PM-5:30 PM, Monday, 29 October 2007 Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 39, No. 6, p. 261
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