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Science 21 June 2002:
Vol. 296. no. 5576, pp. 2209 - 2212
DOI: 10.1126/science.1071143
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Reports
A Large Paleolake Basin at the Head of Ma'adim Vallis, Mars
Rossman P. Irwin III,12*
Ted A. Maxwell,1
Alan D. Howard,2
Robert A. Craddock,1
David W. Leverington1
At 8 to 15 kilometers wide, Ma'adim Vallis is one of the largest
valleys in the martian highlands. Although a groundwater source was
previously suggested, the channel originates at a spillway in the
divide of a ~3,000,000-square-kilometer closed drainage basin. The
interior morphology of this source basin, including likely shoreline
features following topographic contours, suggests that Ma'adim Vallis
was created through catastrophic overflow of a
~1,100,000-square-kilometer highland lake. The size, constant levels,
and interior morphology of three regional paleolake basins require a
warmer paleoclimate and a long-term, recharged, stable highland water
table more than ~3.5 billion years ago.
1 Center for Earth and Planetary Studies,
National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
20560, USA.
2 Department of Environmental Sciences,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
Irwinr{at}nasm.si.edu
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305, 807-810
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