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Can freezing cause floods on Mars?
Author(s) -
Wang Chiyuen,
Manga Michael,
Hanna Jeffrey C.
Publication year - 2006
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 - 10.1029/2006gl027471
Subject(s) - outflow , mars exploration program , aquifer , martian , geology , flood myth , environmental science , groundwater , hydrology (agriculture) , astrobiology , geotechnical engineering , oceanography , physics , philosophy , theology
Floodwaters on Mars likely originated from aquifers confined below a cryosphere. We use an analytical solution to examine freezing‐induced pressurization as a mechanism for releasing groundwater. The results suggest that freezing of an aquifer of global extent under the optimal conditions, i.e., perfectly confined and with low compressibility and high permeability relative to the terrestrial analogs, can release enough floodwaters to carve an individual outflow channel, but not to explain the large total flood volume required to form the all of the outflow channels. It can also produce discharges comparable to those required for carving the outflow channels by repeated floods.