Persistence of intense, climate-driven runoff late in Mars history
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Abstract
Mars is dry today, but numerous precipitation-fed paleo-rivers are found across the planet’s surface. These rivers’ existence is a challenge to models of planetary climate evolution. We report results indicating that, for a given catchment area, rivers on Mars were wider than rivers on Earth today. We use the scale (width and wavelength) of Mars paleo-rivers as a proxy for past runoff production. Using multiple methods, we infer that intense runoff production of >(3–20) kg/m2 per day persisted until <3 billion years (Ga) ago and probably <1 Ga ago, and was globally distributed. Therefore, the intense runoff production inferred from the results of the Mars Science Laboratory rover was not a short-lived or local anomaly. Rather, precipitation-fed runoff production was globally distributed, was intense, and persisted intermittently over >1 Ga. Our improved history of Mars’ river runoff places new constraints on the unknown mechanism that caused wet climates on Mars.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Persistence of intense, climate-driven runoff late in Mars history |
| Series title | Science Advances |
| DOI | 10.1126/sciadv.aav7710 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Year Published | 2019 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | AAAS |
| Contributing office(s) | Astrogeology Science Center |
| Description | eaav7710, 8 p. |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |