Formation of the Athabasca Valles Channel System, Mars SESE logo

athabasca Project Summary

Personnel:  Kristen Paris (M.S.)  Phil Christensen (Ph.D.)

The Athabasca Valles channel system of Mars has been the focus of much research and debate. It begins at the Cerberus Fossae, a northwest-southeast trending fracture system, located southeast of the Elysium Montes, a large volcanic complex. The channel system contains channels and streamlined islands, features often associated with water flow. However, there is also evidence of vast amounts of lava present in the system in the form of flow boundaries, embayment relations, and surface textures. Plates and cones found in the area have been used to argue for both lava flows and aqueous activity. Each of these features has been studied in detail previously; however, in this study they are examined with respect to one another in an effort to develop a unified theory for the formation of the Athabasca Valles channel system. What were the relative roles of the flow of water and lava? The plates found within the study area are of particular interest because of similarities to both ice rafts and lava crust.

Mars:
Athabasca Valles
Nepal: Active
Thrust Systems
New Zealand:
Knickpoint Migration
Relief Evolution:
Active Tectonics 
Relief Evolution:
Fluvial to Glacial 
King Range, CA:
Channel Response
 
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