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N. Cabrol, E. Grin (SETI Institute/NASA Ames Research Center, US), L. Marinangeli (IRSPS, Italy and NASA Ames Research Center, US)
The Durius Valles located in the Aeolis Southeast region, is one of the most dense and varied drainage system on Mars. It consists of about 6500 km of channel length distributed in one main fluvial network supplied by a series of dense tributaries that debouch in the same large sedimentary basin. Lacustrine activity can also be envisioned as paleolakes formed by channels flowing into impact craters and into aqueous sedimentary basins in topographic depressions. These features are abundant in the region and recent. Durius Valles covers an area of about 126,000 km2, crossing geologic units diverse in age and origins. Ancient cratered terrains are present in the southern part but plain units are the most abundant. Some plains show more rugged material with brighter albedo and rectilinear large and deep scours. The scours are parallel to the channel direction and occur on each bank of the channel. The same type of material and groove-marking have been observed in Ma’adim Vallis and interpreted as a morphology possibly due to glacial activity [1,2,3]. Volcanic constructs and faults are abundant in the region and are mostly located in the headwater of the Durius Valles system, suggesting a possible contribution in the formation of the hydrologic systems. We envision the relative contribution of subgliacial flows, hydrothermalism and sapping in the generation of the Durius Valles system and their consequences in term of climate on Mars in recent geological times.
References: [1] Cabrol et al. (1996) Icarus, 123 [2] Grin & Cabrol (1997) Icarus, 130 [3] Cabrol et al. (1998) Icarus, 133
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: acabrol@mail.arc.nasa.gov