Other
Scientific paper
Dec 1989
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1989jgr....9417359m&link_type=abstract
Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 94, Dec. 10, 1989, p. 17359-17370.
Other
64
Crustal Fractures, Hydrology Models, Impact Damage, Mars Surface, Planetary Geology, Ejecta, Planetary Crusts, Planetary Structure
Scientific paper
It is proposed that the heavily bombarded Martian crust generally consists of a 10-km-thick zone of highly permeable, fractured basement rock overlain by a 1- to 2-km thick, relatively impermeable ejecta zone. The impact ejecta are composed of well-mixed, poorly sorted clasts that follow power law distributions. Based on these distributions, packing theory, experimental relations, and measurements on analogous materials, it is estimated that the average porosity of unaltered ejecta within the ejecta zone is 10-20 percent and their maximum permeability is about 0.01 darcy. The model is consistent with observed 1- to 3-km deep mechanical discontinuities in the Martian crust and the susceptibility to erosion of unconsolidated ejecta by sapping and other processes. It is proposed that debris flows made up of ejecta and followed by catastrophic floods may explain the development of Chryse region outflow channels with much less water than required by flooding alone.
MacKinnon David J.
Tanaka Kenneth L.
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