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de Haas T, McArdell BW, Conway SJ, McElwaine JN, Kleinhans MG, Salese F, Grindrod PM. Initiation and Flow Conditions of Contemporary Flows in Martian Gullies. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH. PLANETS 2019; 124:2246-2271. [PMID: 31763111 PMCID: PMC6853261 DOI: 10.1029/2018je005899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2018] [Revised: 07/23/2019] [Accepted: 07/26/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the initial and flow conditions of contemporary flows in Martian gullies, generally believed to be triggered and fluidized by CO2 sublimation, is crucial for deciphering climate conditions needed to trigger and sustain them. We employ the RAMMS (RApid Mass Movement Simulation) debris flow and avalanche model to back calculate initial and flow conditions of recent flows in three gullies in Hale crater. We infer minimum release depths of 1.0-1.5 m and initial release volumes of 100-200 m3. Entrainment leads to final flow volumes that are ∼2.5-5.5 times larger than initially released, and entrainment is found necessary to match the observed flow deposits. Simulated mean cross-channel flow velocities decrease from 3-4 m/s to ∼1 m/s from release area to flow terminus, while flow depths generally decrease from 0.5-1 to 0.1-0.2 m. The mean cross-channel erosion depth and deposition thicknesses are ∼0.1-0.3 m. Back-calculated dry-Coulomb friction ranges from 0.1 to 0.25 and viscous-turbulent friction between 100 and 200 m/s2, which are values similar to those of granular debris flows on Earth. These results suggest that recent flows in gullies are fluidized to a similar degree as are granular debris flows on Earth. Using a novel model for mass flow fluidization by CO2 sublimation we are able to show that under Martian atmospheric conditions very small volumetric fractions of CO2 of ≪1% within mass flows may indeed yield sufficiently large gas fluxes to cause fluidization and enhance flow mobility.
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Affiliation(s)
- T. de Haas
- Department of Physical GeographyUniversiteit UtrechtUtrechtThe Netherlands
- Department of GeographyDurham UniversityDurhamUK
| | - B. W. McArdell
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
| | - S. J. Conway
- Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique, CNRS UMR 6112, Université de NantesNantesFrance
| | - J. N. McElwaine
- Department of Earth SciencesDurham UniversityDurhamUK
- Planetary Science InstituteTucsonAZUSA
| | - M. G. Kleinhans
- Department of Physical GeographyUniversiteit UtrechtUtrechtThe Netherlands
| | - F. Salese
- Department of Physical GeographyUniversiteit UtrechtUtrechtThe Netherlands
- International Research School of Planetary SciencesUniversità Gabriele D'AnnunzioPescaraItaly
| | - P. M. Grindrod
- Department of Earth SciencesNatural History MuseumLondonUK
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Experiments On Sublimating Carbon Dioxide Ice And Implications For Contemporary Surface Processes On Mars. Sci Rep 2017; 7:14181. [PMID: 29079829 PMCID: PMC5660181 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14132-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2016] [Accepted: 10/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Carbon dioxide is Mars’ primary atmospheric constituent and is an active driver of Martian surface evolution. CO2 ice sublimation mechanisms have been proposed for a host of features that form in the contemporary Martian climate. However, there has been very little experimental work or quantitative modelling to test the validity of these hypotheses. Here we present the results of the first laboratory experiments undertaken to investigate if the interaction between sublimating CO2 ice blocks and a warm, porous, mobile regolith can generate features similar in morphology to those forming on Martian dunes today. We find that CO2 sublimation can mobilise grains to form (i) pits and (ii) furrows. We have documented new detached pits at the termini of linear gullies on Martian dunes. Based on their geomorphic similarity to the features observed in our laboratory experiments, and on scaling arguments, we propose a new hypothesis that detached pits are formed by the impact of granular jets generated by sublimating CO2. We also study the erosion patterns formed underneath a sublimating block of CO2 ice and demonstrate that these resemble furrow patterns on Mars, suggesting similar formation mechanisms.
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Baker VR, Hamilton CW, Burr DM, Gulick VC, Komatsu G, Luo W, Rice JW, Rodriguez J. Fluvial geomorphology on Earth-like planetary surfaces: A review. GEOMORPHOLOGY (AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS) 2015; 245:149-182. [PMID: 29176917 PMCID: PMC5701759 DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Morphological evidence for ancient channelized flows (fluvial and fluvial-like landforms) exists on the surfaces of all of the inner planets and on some of the satellites of the Solar System. In some cases, the relevant fluid flows are related to a planetary evolution that involves the global cycling of a volatile component (water for Earth and Mars; methane for Saturn's moon Titan). In other cases, as on Mercury, Venus, Earth's moon, and Jupiter's moon Io, the flows were of highly fluid lava. The discovery, in 1972, of what are now known to be fluvial channels and valleys on Mars sparked a major controversy over the role of water in shaping the surface of that planet. The recognition of the fluvial character of these features has opened unresolved fundamental questions about the geological history of water on Mars, including the presence of an ancient ocean and the operation of a hydrological cycle during the earliest phases of planetary history. Other fundamental questions posed by fluvial and fluvial-like features on planetary bodies include the possible erosive action of large-scale outpourings of very fluid lavas, such as those that may have produced the remarkable canali forms on Venus; the ability of exotic fluids, such as methane, to create fluvial-like landforms, as observed on Saturn's moon, Titan; and the nature of sedimentation and erosion under different conditions of planetary surface gravity. Planetary fluvial geomorphology also illustrates fundamental epistemological and methodological issues, including the role of analogy in geomorphological/geological inquiry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor R. Baker
- Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
| | - Christopher W. Hamilton
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
| | - Devon M. Burr
- Earth and Planetary Sciences Department, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Knoxville, TN 37996-1410, USA
| | - Virginia C. Gulick
- SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
- NASA Ames Research Center, MS 239-20, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
| | - Goro Komatsu
- International Research School of Planetary Sciences, Università d’Annunzio, Viale Pindaro 42, 65127 Pescara, Italy
| | - Wei Luo
- Department of Geography, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA
| | | | - J.A.P. Rodriguez
- NASA Ames Research Center, MS 239-20, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
- Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
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Louge MY, Valance A, Lancelot P, Delannay R, Artières O. Granular flows on a dissipative base. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS 2015; 92:022204. [PMID: 26382391 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.92.022204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
We study inclined channel flows of sand over a sensor-enabled composite geotextile fabric base that dissipates granular fluctuation energy. We record strain of the fabric along the flow direction with imbedded fiber-optic Bragg gratings, flow velocity on the surface by correlating grain position in successive images, flow thickness with the streamwise shift of an oblique laser light sheet, velocity depth profile through a transparent side wall using a high-speed camera, and overall discharge rate. These independent measurements at inclinations between 33∘ and 37∘ above the angle of repose at 32.1±0.8∘ are consistent with a mass flow rate scaling as the 3/2 power of the flow depth, which is markedly different than flows on a rigid bumpy boundary. However, this power changes to 5/2 when flows are forced on the sand bed below its angle of repose. Strain measurements imply that the mean solid volume fraction in the flowing layer above the angle of repose is 0.268±0.033, independent of discharge rate or inclination.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Paul Lancelot
- Faculty of Aerospace Engineering Delft University of Technology 2629 HS Delft, The Netherlands
| | | | - Olivier Artières
- TenCate GeoSynthetics 9, rue Marcel Paul, F-95873 Bezons CEDEX, France
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Johnson CG, Kokelaar BP, Iverson RM, Logan M, LaHusen RG, Gray JMNT. Grain-size segregation and levee formation in geophysical mass flows. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012. [DOI: 10.1029/2011jf002185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 184] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Hibert C, Mangeney A, Grandjean G, Shapiro NM. Slope instabilities in Dolomieu crater, Réunion Island: From seismic signals to rockfall characteristics. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011. [DOI: 10.1029/2011jf002038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Mangeney A, Roche O, Hungr O, Mangold N, Faccanoni G, Lucas A. Erosion and mobility in granular collapse over sloping beds. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1029/2009jf001462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 166] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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