A New System of Tectonic Outflow Channels in the Memnonia Region of Mars

Mathematics – Logic

Scientific paper

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1825 Geomorphology: Fluvial (1625), 1829 Groundwater Hydrology, 5419 Hydrology And Fluvial Processes, 5475 Tectonics (8149), 6225 Mars

Scientific paper

Using a combination of MOLA, THEMIS, and MOC data, a previously unrecognized set of tectonic outflow channels has been identified in the Memnonia region of Mars. Together with Mangala Valles to the north, these valleys constitute a continuous hydrologic system flowing northwards within the western Tharsis trough for a distance of 1800 km. The overall topographic signatures of the valleys are similar to the broad valley that encompasses the main Mangala Valles channel, with broad flat-floored valleys narrowing in an upstream direction towards their assumed sources within the graben of the Memnonia and Sirenum Fossae graben swarms. The actual channels within the newly identified valleys have been masked through subsequent volcanic resurfacing and tectonic modification, though evidence for a fluvial origin has been preserved in the form of tributaries perched above the level of resurfacing in the main valleys. The valleys must have formed prior to emplacement of the valley fill, which has been mapped as Late Noachian to Early Hesperian in age [Craddock and Greeley, 1994], thus significantly preceding the Late Hesperian to Early Amazonian age of the Mangala Valles channel [Tanaka and Chapman, 1990]. Both these new valleys and Mangala Valles, which together we have termed the "Memnonia-Sirenum outflow complex" after the graben swarms at their sources, likely originated through a mechanism of tectonic aquifer pressurization and subsequent drainage to the surface. This pressurization mechanism relies upon the stress change in the crust resulting from both the injection of a dike at depth and the tectonic release of the gradually accumulated extensional stress generated by Tharsis loading, as described by Hanna and Phillips [2005]. A significant fraction of this tectonic stress change within the aquifer is borne by the water in the pore spaces, so that a tectonic event results in a rapid pressurization of the aquifers surrounding the graben. This pressurized water would then drain to the surface, resulting in the flooding responsible for the observed erosion. The Memnonia-Sirenum outflow complex records an extended period of fluvial activity from the Late Noachian through the early Amazonian, driven by this mechanism of tectonic aquifer pressurization.

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