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Initiation of Martian outflow channels: Related to the dissociation of gas hydrate?
Author(s) -
Max Michael D.,
Clifford Stephen M.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2000gl011606
Subject(s) - martian , clathrate hydrate , methane , geology , mars exploration program , hydrate , aquifer , outflow , astrobiology , permafrost , dissociation (chemistry) , groundwater , petrology , chemistry , oceanography , physics , organic chemistry , geotechnical engineering
We propose that the disruption of subpermafrost aquifers on Mars by the thermal‐ or pressure‐induced dissociation of methane hydrate may have been a frequent trigger for initiating outflow channel activity. This possibility is raised by recent work that suggests that significant amounts of methane and gas hydrate may have been produced within and beneath the planet's cryosphere. On Earth, the build‐up of overpressured water and gas by the decomposition of hydrate deposits has been implicated in the formation of large blowout features on the ocean floor. These features display a remarkable resemblance (in both morphology and scale) to the chaotic terrain found at the source of many Martian channels. The destabilization of hydrate can generate pressures sufficient to disrupt aquifers confined by up to 5 kilometers of frozen ground, while smaller discharges may result from the water produced by the decomposition of near‐surface hydrate alone.