2021/03/01 by Benjamin Boatwright, J. W. Head, Boatwright, Benjamin D. +1
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) #FOS: Physical sciences #Geophysics (physics.geo-ph) #Planetary Science and Exploration #Space Exploration and Technology
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2103.01098
openalex publication_date 2021/03/01 · openalex created_date 2022/07/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A 54-km diameter Noachian-aged crater in the southern highlands of Mars contains unusually well-preserved inverted fluvial channel networks and lacustrine deposits, all of which formed completely inside the crater. This closed-source drainage basin (CSDB) crater is distinct from previously documented fluvially breached or groundwater-fed crater basin lakes on Mars. We compare our observations to previously established models of crater degradation, fluvial incision, and topographic inversion on Mars to assess the most likely origins of the water that formed the fluvial and lacustrine features. We favor top-down melting of a cold-based glacier as the source of water in the CSDB crater, which would represent the first examples of proglacial fluvial channels and lakes found on Noachian Mars.