QUANTITATIVE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION OF CHANNEL BELT PROPERTIES ON EARTH AND MARS

Channel belt deposits are ubiquitous features observed in modern systems on Earth and the rock record on both Earth and Mars, which makes them a widespread record of paleo-surface conditions. Previous works have identified sedimentary deposits on Mars due to channel belts filling incised valleys. Yet, the duration of the water flow driving the observed deposition is under debate. To better understand the paleoenvironments on Mars, we propose an exploratory study to compare the distribution of planform properties of channel belts (e.g., radius of curvature, sinuosity, wavelength) on modern Earth, where formation times are relatively well constrained, to ancient Mars. Channel belts are mapped using remote sensing methods via Google Earth and HiRISE images on Mars. Care is taken to differentiate between the two main river types observed on Earth, single-thread and braided, to test an additional hypothesis that these two morphologies have different probability distributions of channel belt properties. Preliminary data indicate that braided rivers (e.g., Red and Toklot Rivers) and single-thread rivers (e.g., Trinity and Missouri Rivers) have different distributions of curvature and sinuosity, with distinct modes. Our results will help improve interpretations of paleoenvironments on Earth as well as on Mars.