Was Gale Crater (Mars) Connected to a Regionally Extensive Groundwater System?
Affiliation
Lunar & Planetary Laboratory, University of ArizonaIssue Date
2021Keywords
geomorphology: fluvialgroundwater hydrology
hydrology and fluvial processes
limnology
Mars
sediment transport
Metadata
Show full item recordPublisher
Blackwell Publishing LtdCitation
Roseborough, V., Horvath, D. G., & Palucis, M. C. (2021). Was Gale Crater (Mars) Connected to a Regionally Extensive Groundwater System?. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(6), e2020GL092107.Journal
Geophysical Research LettersRights
Copyright © 2021 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Gale crater, home of the Curiosity rover, contains some of the best geomorphic and sedimentologic evidence on Mars for large lakes during the Hesperian and Amazonian. Orbital data and rover observations of delta deposits and terminations of gully networks suggest several phases of stable lake levels. However, the regional extent, water source (groundwater vs. surface water), and climate during each lake stand are debated. Consistent gully network termination elevations (GNTEs) within Gale and 17 regional craters suggest that GNTEs record paleolake levels. Hydrologic modeling indicates these lakes may have been coeval and the result of a regional groundwater table, recording a drying trend from subhumid conditions to semiarid conditions. Crater counting indicates that most lake-hosting craters impacted after ∼3.7 Ga and surface water persisted intermittently until the Early Amazonian, constraining the timing but not duration of lakes. This work has implications for understanding water sources and volumes affecting sediments investigated by Curiosity. © 2021. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.Note
6 month embargo; first published: 10 March 2021ISSN
0094-8276Version
Final published versionae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1029/2020GL092107