Presenter Information

Jason Mueller, SUNY GeneseoFollow

Submission Type

Poster

Start Date

April 2021

Abstract

The Eberswalde Delta is an impressive Martian fluvial-deltaic system. It is fed by an Earth-like dendritic river system that indicates past precipitation. This study is designed to quantify controls on network morphometry and its past extent using Esri ArcMap. Upstream contributing area (km2), elevation (m), depth (m), width (m), W/D ratio, and slope (-m/m), were calculated and graphed by stream order and long profiles. Width/depth increased with distance downstream but fluctuated in the fifth-order channel that was convex with knickpoints. This implied the system was youthful. The fourth-order stream was concave and in a sedimentary sub-basin. This sub-basin may have been an Early Hesperian lake with water elevation fluctuations; this could have generated knicks/youthful convex profiles of the first to third-order streams. Width and depth correlated weakly to slope which suggested additional lithologic control from the heterogenous ejecta of Holden Crater. A degradation of ~35 m was calculated from the age of Eberswalde and basaltic plain degradation rates (Mangold et al., 2012; Sweeney et al., 2018). Many first-order streams were near drainage divides with minimal upstream contributing area. This suggested degradation less than 35 m and that the system was not much more complex than present.

Comments

Special thanks to Dr. Nicholas Warner for research advising

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Apr 26th, 12:00 AM

328— Watershed Analysis of the Eberswalde Delta (Early Hesperian), Mars

The Eberswalde Delta is an impressive Martian fluvial-deltaic system. It is fed by an Earth-like dendritic river system that indicates past precipitation. This study is designed to quantify controls on network morphometry and its past extent using Esri ArcMap. Upstream contributing area (km2), elevation (m), depth (m), width (m), W/D ratio, and slope (-m/m), were calculated and graphed by stream order and long profiles. Width/depth increased with distance downstream but fluctuated in the fifth-order channel that was convex with knickpoints. This implied the system was youthful. The fourth-order stream was concave and in a sedimentary sub-basin. This sub-basin may have been an Early Hesperian lake with water elevation fluctuations; this could have generated knicks/youthful convex profiles of the first to third-order streams. Width and depth correlated weakly to slope which suggested additional lithologic control from the heterogenous ejecta of Holden Crater. A degradation of ~35 m was calculated from the age of Eberswalde and basaltic plain degradation rates (Mangold et al., 2012; Sweeney et al., 2018). Many first-order streams were near drainage divides with minimal upstream contributing area. This suggested degradation less than 35 m and that the system was not much more complex than present.

 

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