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Persistence of intense, climate-driven runoff late in Mars history.


ABSTRACT: Mars is dry today, but numerous precipitation-fed paleo-rivers are found across the planet's surface. These rivers' existence is a challenge to models of planetary climate evolution. We report results indicating that, for a given catchment area, rivers on Mars were wider than rivers on Earth today. We use the scale (width and wavelength) of Mars paleo-rivers as a proxy for past runoff production. Using multiple methods, we infer that intense runoff production of >(3-20) kg/m2 per day persisted until <3 billion years (Ga) ago and probably <1 Ga ago, and was globally distributed. Therefore, the intense runoff production inferred from the results of the Mars Science Laboratory rover was not a short-lived or local anomaly. Rather, precipitation-fed runoff production was globally distributed, was intense, and persisted intermittently over >1 Ga. Our improved history of Mars' river runoff places new constraints on the unknown mechanism that caused wet climates on Mars.

SUBMITTER: Kite ES 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6436933 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Persistence of intense, climate-driven runoff late in Mars history.

Kite Edwin S ES   Mayer David P DP   Wilson Sharon A SA   Davis Joel M JM   Lucas Antoine S AS   Stucky de Quay Gaia G  

Science advances 20190327 3


Mars is dry today, but numerous precipitation-fed paleo-rivers are found across the planet's surface. These rivers' existence is a challenge to models of planetary climate evolution. We report results indicating that, for a given catchment area, rivers on Mars were wider than rivers on Earth today. We use the scale (width and wavelength) of Mars paleo-rivers as a proxy for past runoff production. Using multiple methods, we infer that intense runoff production of >(3-20) kg/m<sup>2</sup> per day  ...[more]

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