Mars Valley Networks: Chronology and Environments

SECOND WORKSHOP ON MARS VALLEY NETWORKS 20 MARS VALLEY NETWORKS: CHRONOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTS. C. I. Fassett, J.W. Head, and J.L. Dickson, Box 1846, Dept. of Geol. Sci., Brown Univ., Providence, RI 02912. ([email protected]) Introduction: The recognition, mapping, and in- [9]. This method takes advantage of the fact that large terpretation of valley networks has been an ongoing craters subtend a much larger area than small ones. scientific endeavor for more than 30 years [e.g., 1]. We first map the valley we wish to examine, and then Recent improvements in image coverage and resolu- find all craters clearly superposed upon the valley tion have improved our understanding of valley net- within an area appropriate for its diameter. For each works and associated lakes and sedimentary deposits. crater (and its ejecta), a stratigraphic judgment is re- Moreover, multispectral and hyperspectral instruments quired, and we assume that any topographic barrier such as THEMIS and CRISM have revealed that cer- (e.g., a crater rim or its ejecta) superposed on the val- tain valley network-related deposits have interesting ley must have formed after valley activity ceased. Only mineralogy, such as phyllosilicates which have been craters which are clearly superposed are included, so fluvially transported [2] and possible chloride salts in our results should be a robust minimum age/period basin floors [3]. (lower limit) for integrated fluvial activity in the valley Along with examining valley networks in unprece- system. dented detail, there has also been some progress in For a given crater size D, we count in a buffer of improving the time constraints on when valley net- size 1.5D from each valley side. In doing so, we are works were active [4]. Placing valley networks within assuming that it is possible to determine stratigraphic a chronological framework is important if the forma- relationships for craters with rims within one crater tion of valleys is to improve our knowledge of the evo- diameter of the valley walls (consistent with expecta- lution of the surface environment and martian climate tions from scaling laws that the extent of continuous over time. In this abstract, we summarize some recent ejecta is ~1D [10]). The total count area A that we use findings regarding the chronological constraints on for a linear segment of a valley (length L) with craters valley formation, the environments in which they of diameter D is A(D)=(3D+Wv)L, where Wv is the formed, and discuss a few specific new examples of valley width. Count areas are computed for a given valleys which are unusually young and may help in- crater size by applying the ArcMap buffer function to form us about the variations in valley formation condi- the mapped valleys (taking into account that buffers tions over time. for multiple valley segments can overlap). We have Our General Chronological Approach: The tested this methodology with a more stringent buffer most commonly applied technique for finding the age size of 0.5D (requiring that the valley falls directly of valley networks is to obtain a reliable age for the within the crater rim). The stricter buffer gives results surface that they incise. Mapping using Viking data that are consistent with the 1.5D buffer, although it originally led workers to the conclusion that most val- limits the count area, hence decreasing our counting leys are ancient (Noachian in age) [5,6], especially the statistics. valley networks that are the most integrated and sub- Period Boundary Consistency. A challenge for cra- tend the greatest areas. The primary limit of this ter counting on early Mars surfaces is that the defini- method is that it requires careful delineation of what tion used for the period boundaries is somewhat un- unit is actually incised, which can be difficult in high- clear, which can alter the relative age assignment of land regions that have undegone extensive erosion or features or units. This difficulty arises because the gradation; in the best case scenario, this method only original period boundaries were defined assuming a gives an upper limit on valley age. Thus, different different shape for the crater-size frequency distribu- interpretations of what units are actually incised (and tion [11] than recent isochron systems [12,13]. The their stratigraphic position) can lead to alternative in- way that workers address this problem has unfortu- terpretations of when valley network formation oc- nately ranged somewhat widely, leading to inconsis- curred; indeed, some workers using this methodology tency in period assignments even for comparable crater have thus argued that many valleys are actually young frequencies. To combat this issue, we adopt the con- [7]. Thus, we have taken a different approach to meas- vention of using the original Tanaka boundary defini- uring the valley ages. tions [11] referenced to a specific cumulative number Buffered Crater Counting. Instead of mapping the of craters at diameter D=2 km in the Amazonian pe- unit that specific valley networks incise, we count riod boundaries, 5 km for the Early Hesperian/Late around valleys in a series of buffers, as has been at- Hesperian and Noachian/Hesperian boundaries, and 16 tempted before for other planetary surface features [8] km for the boundaries of the Noachian subperiods (see and similar to a technique first described by Tanaka Table 1). Then, we use the shape of the crater-size SECOND WORKSHOP ON MARS VALLEY NETWORKS 21 frequency distribution (isochrons) defined by particu- Whichever interpretive scenario is correct, we be- lar workers to expand the period boundaries beyond lieve that highlands valleys date to the Early Hesperian these reference points. This pins the period boundaries or before, with all major highland valley systems hav- at specific sizes to be the same across isochron sys- ing formed by AH>~3.45 Gyr and AN>~3.7 Gyr (Neu- tems, so different assumptions about the shape of the kum system). If major valley network systems in the production function do not alter the relative period highlands had been active more recently (Amazonian determination. We believe this is preferable to at- or Late Hesperian), it would have been apparent based tempting to tie the period boundaries to some absolute on their superposed crater population. Indeed, in a few age, since these model ages are derived parameters exceptional cases (none of which are ‘classic highland with significant systematic uncertainties, unlike the valleys’), this is in fact what we observe. crater-size frequency distributions of various features Young valley networks. Several workers [e.g., 16, which can be directly measured and compared. 17] have identified valley systems that are apparently Chronological Results: Highland valley networks. young, and we made a particular attempt to derive ages We examined 26 separate specific valley networks, for four of these systems. Our crater counts support the representing approximately 25% of the total length of idea that the valleys on Ceraunius Tholus, Hecates mapped valleys in the highlands. Most valleys we Tholus, Alba Patera, and the plateaus above Valles examine were chosen to be outside the high latitudes Marineris are young (Late Hesperian to Early Amazo- (>30º in each hemisphere), where mantling material nian). In each instance, it appears likely that the for- makes crater counts and stratigraphic determinations mation of these young valleys can be understood as a more uncertain (an exception is Warrego Valles, which local phenomenon that does not require global climate we wanted to consider because of the detailed work excursions. HiRISE and CTX have also provides new that had been done on this region in the past). evidence for locations and environments on Mars that In every instance, the superposed crater popula- appear to have valleys formed in the more recent past. tion resulted in a best fit age in the Early Hesperian or We discuss a few such examples below. older, with most ages clustering around the Noa- Surface Conditions for Forming Ancient High- chian/Hesperian boundary (Fig. 1). The statistical land Valleys: The precise conditions required to form nature of these results means they can be interpreted in the highland valley networks is a longstanding scien- several ways. One possible interpretation is that all of tific debate that remains unresolved. However, the the variability is a result of counting statistics, and that findings of recent missions have helped clarify some valleys ceased activity at essentially a single point in of the environmental factors required: (1) precipitation time. In this view, all valleys have a best fit age that of some form is necessary to form the observed valleys falls almost exactly at the Noachian/Hesperian bound- [e.g., 18]. Valleys commonly begin at drainage di- ary; the best fit Hartmann and Neukum ages respec- vides where either direct precipitation or precipitation- tively of AH=3.53 Gyr or AN=3.75 Gyr, with N(5)=214 forced recharge is required for surface flow to occur. (where N(5)=200 is the definition of the Noa- (2) A variety of arguments (channel geometry [19], chian/Hesperian boundary [11]). basin characteristics [20,21], and inferences from However, an alternative scenario is that some of sedimentary deposits [22,23]) suggest that surface the valleys that have younger best fit ages are in fact flows had terrestrial-like discharges and persisted for younger, and that the spread in crater frequencies re- many thousands of years (probably 105-106 years), but

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