Evidence of Mega Floods on Mars' Athabasca Valles

Megaflood analysis through channel networks of the Athabasca Valles, Mars based on multi-resolution stereo DTMs and 2D hydrodynamic modeling

Authors:

Kim et al

Abstract:

Stereo analysis of in-orbital imagery provides valuable topographic data for scientific research over planetary surfaces especially for the interpretation of potential fluvial activity. The focus of research into planetary fluvial activity has been shifting towards quantitative modeling with various spatial resolution DTMs from visual interpretation with ortho images. Thus in this study, we tested the application of hydraulic analysis with multi resolution Martian DTMs, which were constructed following the approaches of Kim and Muller (2009). Subsequently, a two-dimensional hydraulic model was introduced to conduct flow simulation using the extracted 1.2–150 m resolution DTMs. As a result, it was found that the simulated water flows coincided with what might be water eroded geomorphic features over target areas. Moreover, the information acquired from the modeling, such as water depth along the time line, flow direction and travel time, is proving of great value for the interpretation of surface characteristics. Results highlighted the importance of DTM quality for simulating fluvial channel hydraulics across planetary surfaces.