Mars research finds evidence of vast bodies of water
A team of researchers from the Jackson School of Geosciences {University of Texas at Austin} has found evidence of a large, fluctuating body of water in a sedimentary basin on Mars.
Geological studies graduate student Benjamin Cardenas, postdoctoral fellow Timothy Goudge and geological sciences professor David Mohrig collected high-resolution images and topographical data of Aeolis Dorsa, a large sedimentary basin, from instruments aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Global Surveyor. They studied sedimentary deposits in the Aeolis Dorsa area and concluded that water used to be abundant in the region.
The research examined Mars’ once-incised valleys created by river-like erosion and looked at the now-elevated, winding ridges that lie within them as a result of geological processes. They looked at sedimentation characteristics such as geometry, flow direction and lateral migration, or the migration of a river channel across its floodplain, of these ridges.
Cardenas said he and his colleagues found evidence that the rivers could adjust to a migrating coastline because the downstream water body changed slowly.
Read more: http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2017/10/04/mars-research-finds-evidence-of-vast-bodies-of-water
