Formation of Recent Martian Debris Flows by Melting of Near-Surface Ground Ice at High Obliquity
The observation of small gullies associated with recent surface runoff on Mars has renewed the question of liquid water stability at the surface of Mars. The gullies could be formed by groundwater seepage from underground aquifers; however, observations of gullies originating from isolated peaks and...
Published in: | Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2002
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1066698 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1066698 |
id |
craaas:10.1126/science.1066698 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
craaas:10.1126/science.1066698 2024-06-23T07:53:20+00:00 Formation of Recent Martian Debris Flows by Melting of Near-Surface Ground Ice at High Obliquity Costard, F. Forget, F. Mangold, N. Peulvast, J. P. 2002 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1066698 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1066698 en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science volume 295, issue 5552, page 110-113 ISSN 0036-8075 1095-9203 journal-article 2002 craaas https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1066698 2024-06-13T04:00:57Z The observation of small gullies associated with recent surface runoff on Mars has renewed the question of liquid water stability at the surface of Mars. The gullies could be formed by groundwater seepage from underground aquifers; however, observations of gullies originating from isolated peaks and dune crests question this scenario. We show that these landforms may result from the melting of water ice in the top few meters of the martian subsurface at high obliquity. Our conclusions are based on the analogy between the martian gullies and terrestrial debris flows observed in Greenland and numerical simulations that show that above-freezing temperatures can occur at high obliquities in the near surface of Mars, and that such temperatures are only predicted at latitudes and for slope orientations corresponding to where the gullies have been observed on Mars. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Greenland Science 295 5552 110 113 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) |
op_collection_id |
craaas |
language |
English |
description |
The observation of small gullies associated with recent surface runoff on Mars has renewed the question of liquid water stability at the surface of Mars. The gullies could be formed by groundwater seepage from underground aquifers; however, observations of gullies originating from isolated peaks and dune crests question this scenario. We show that these landforms may result from the melting of water ice in the top few meters of the martian subsurface at high obliquity. Our conclusions are based on the analogy between the martian gullies and terrestrial debris flows observed in Greenland and numerical simulations that show that above-freezing temperatures can occur at high obliquities in the near surface of Mars, and that such temperatures are only predicted at latitudes and for slope orientations corresponding to where the gullies have been observed on Mars. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Costard, F. Forget, F. Mangold, N. Peulvast, J. P. |
spellingShingle |
Costard, F. Forget, F. Mangold, N. Peulvast, J. P. Formation of Recent Martian Debris Flows by Melting of Near-Surface Ground Ice at High Obliquity |
author_facet |
Costard, F. Forget, F. Mangold, N. Peulvast, J. P. |
author_sort |
Costard, F. |
title |
Formation of Recent Martian Debris Flows by Melting of Near-Surface Ground Ice at High Obliquity |
title_short |
Formation of Recent Martian Debris Flows by Melting of Near-Surface Ground Ice at High Obliquity |
title_full |
Formation of Recent Martian Debris Flows by Melting of Near-Surface Ground Ice at High Obliquity |
title_fullStr |
Formation of Recent Martian Debris Flows by Melting of Near-Surface Ground Ice at High Obliquity |
title_full_unstemmed |
Formation of Recent Martian Debris Flows by Melting of Near-Surface Ground Ice at High Obliquity |
title_sort |
formation of recent martian debris flows by melting of near-surface ground ice at high obliquity |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1066698 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1066698 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland |
genre_facet |
Greenland |
op_source |
Science volume 295, issue 5552, page 110-113 ISSN 0036-8075 1095-9203 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1066698 |
container_title |
Science |
container_volume |
295 |
container_issue |
5552 |
container_start_page |
110 |
op_container_end_page |
113 |
_version_ |
1802644930826338304 |