Erosive flood events on the surface of Mars: application to Mangala and Athabasca Valles

Alistair Simon Bargery (1) , Lionel Wilson (1)

1 Lancaster University

► We present a model of megaflooding on Mars, with thermal and mechanical erosion. ► We apply the model to floods in two, well-documented outflow channels. ► We examine variations in the erosive distance and erosion rate of the floods. ► Increasing initial water depth increases erosive distance given other model inputs. ► Thermal erosion dominates mechanical erosion and can explain present channel depths.

Mots clés: Geological processes; Mars; Outflow channels; Water

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]

Alistair Simon Bargery, Lionel Wilson. Erosive flood events on the surface of Mars: application to Mangala and Athabasca Valles. Icarus, 2011, 212 (2), pp.520. ⟨10.1016/j.icarus.2011.01.001⟩. ⟨hal-00734590⟩