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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.
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