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Published October 2009 | Published
Journal Article Open

Sublacustrine depositional fans in southwest Melas Chasma

Abstract

Two depositional fan complexes have been identified on the floor of southwest Melas Chasma. The western fan complex is located near the center of an enclosed basin in southwest Melas Chasma and is composed of multiple lobes with dendritic finger-like terminations. These fans are very flat and have a morphology unlike any other fan that has been previously identified on Mars. On the basis of the morphologic similarity of the western fan complex to the Mississippi submarine fan complex, we suggest that it may be a deep subaqueous fan depositional system. There are numerous channels on the surface of the western fan complex, and measurements of channel length, width, and sinuosity are consistent with channels observed on terrestrial submarine fans. The eastern Melas depositional fans are less well preserved and may be of deltaic or sublacustrine origin. Recognition of the fans supports earlier suggestions for the presence of a former lake in Melas Chasma and indicates that a significant body of water was present and stable at the surface of Mars for at least 10^2 to 10^4 years.

Additional Information

© 2009 American Geophysical Union. Received 16 February 2009; accepted 24 June 2009; published 14 October 2009. We would like to thank Kevin Lewis and Terry Suer for making the digital elevation models of the Melas fans used in this study. We would also like to thank Douglas Jerolmack for advice on calculating timescales.

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Created:
August 21, 2023
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October 19, 2023