Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Dec 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agufm.p51b0359p&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2002, abstract #P51B-0359
Mathematics
Logic
6225 Mars
Scientific paper
Cerberus Fossae, a major northwest trending tensional fracture in Elysium, has acted as a conduit for water in the very recent past (Late Amazonian). This same fracture system has also acted as a conduit for the release of the lavas that formed the Cerberus Plains. Water was released by the fracture in three locations in both catastrophic and non-catastrophic manners. At the northwest end of the fracture, two sources (Athabasca and Grjota' Valles) formed as the result of catastrophic flow away from the fracture carving channel systems hundreds of km long and tens of km wide. Both sources are at the same elevation -2.3 to -2.5 km suggesting they tapped the same reservoir beneath the Elysium rise. The third source is at the southeast end of Cerberus Fossae, southwest of Orcus Patera (Rahway Valles) which forms an extensive valley network. Some of these valleys begin at the fossae, others begin on the adjacent level plain to the north. This source is at a different elevation (-3.0 km) and apparently tapped a different, shallow reservoir. A shallow reservoir is suggested as there appear to be multiple sources over a broad area, possibly allowing headward erosion of some of the valleys by sapping, in addition to the larger (volume / rate) flows from the Cerberus Fossae fractures. Cerberus Fossae must have tapped two distinct reservoirs to release the water as the sources are restricted to a narrow elevation range, are at different elevations, and there are no release points between the two. Age relations suggest that all of the sources were active at the same point in geologic time. As faulting along the Cerberus Fossae trend has occurred repeatedly through time, the water must have been available for release only during the most recent episode of tectonism. Absolute timing, based on crater counts, is broadly constrained as only between 144 and 1700 Ma. These three fluvial channels can be integrated into a single fluvial system that exceeds 2500 km in length and extends across the Cerberus Plains through Marte Valles and into Amazonis. The presence of young catastrophic flood channels and valley networks indicate that significant quantities of water have been released in the recent past.
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