Valles Marineris flood may have raised ancient Martian sea level by 34 metres
A new study suggests that a massive ancient flood in Mars' Valles Marineris canyon system released enough water to raise the planet's global sea levels by 34 metres. Researchers used hydraulic modelling to estimate the impact of this event, which would have been equivalent to flooding 3.6 million square kilometres on Earth.
Why it matters
This research provides significant insights into the geological and hydrological history of Mars, aiding our understanding of its potential for past habitability.
The recent catastrophic flash floods in Nepal, apparently triggered by the collapse of a glacier rock mass that sent ice, rock, and sediment downstream, causing a sudden surge of water and debris in the river, highlight the destructive power of such events.
A vastly larger outburst flood occurred on Mars, where the breaching of paleolakes in Valles Marineris during the Late Hesperian to Early Amazonian unleashed a massive deluge. The flood, from the ancient canyon system, the largest in the Solar System, is estimated to have released 1,245 trillion cubic metres of water and may have raised the global mean level of the hypothesised ancient Martian ocean by about 34 metres, according to a new study published online in the peer-reviewed journal Icarus.
The researchers estimate that an equivalent discharge on Earth would have inundated about 3.6 million sq km of land.
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