Groundwater Discharge and Gully Formation on Martian Slopes

Physics

Scientific paper

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0545 Modeling (4255), 5419 Hydrology And Fluvial Processes, 6225 Mars

Scientific paper

Young gullies and gully deposits on walls of martian craters have been cited as evidence that liquid water flowed on the surface of Mars relatively recently. Effects of variable environmental conditions at the surface of Mars are modeled and applied to the case of groundwater emergence from shallow aquifers to investigate whether groundwater is a viable source to enable the erosion of these gullies. The model includes detailed treatment of ice growth in the aquifer. Model results indicate that groundwater discharge can be maintained under the current environmental conditions if the aquifer permeability is like that of terrestrial gravel or higher, the aquifer is 350 K or warmer, or if the aquifer is a brine with a freezing point depressed to 250 K or below. Warm (350 K), pure water, moderate hydraulic conductivity aquifers and cold (275 K), pure water, high hydraulic conductivity (gravel) aquifers do not exhibit a strong dependence of discharge volume on season, latitude or slope orientation in our modeling. Low hydraulic conductivity, cold, CaCl2 brine aquifers and moderate hydraulic conductivity, cold, pure water aquifers both show azimuthal, latitudinal and seasonal dependencies in the calculated discharge rates. Discharges for low hydraulic conductivity, cold, CaCl2 brine aquifers favor equator-facing slopes at high southern latitudes and pole-facing slopes at low southern latitudes.

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