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Martian floods at Cerberus Fossae can be produced by groundwater discharge
Author(s) -
Manga Michael
Publication year - 2004
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 - 10.1029/2003gl018958
Subject(s) - aquifer , artesian aquifer , geology , groundwater , martian , mars exploration program , flood basalt , hydrology (agriculture) , tharsis , groundwater discharge , flood myth , groundwater flow , cone of depression , geomorphology , geochemistry , geotechnical engineering , paleontology , volcanism , geography , tectonics , physics , archaeology , astronomy
Young flood channels emanate from Cerberus Fossae, Mars. In order to determine whether subsurface aquifers can discharge water sufficiently fast to explain these flood features, I develop a model that couples groundwater flow in a sub‐cryosphere aquifer with flow through a fissure that penetrates from the surface to the aquifer. The model is constrained by estimates of peak discharge, and the distance water flowed uphill from the fissure. Aquifer permeabilities similar to those of young basalt aquifers on the Earth, ∼10 −9 m 2 , can produce inferred discharges of 10 6 m 3 /s [ Burr et al. , 2002a] but probably require multiple floods to create the channels.