The angle of a river branch is determined, among other things, by how dry an area is and whether groundwater emerges from the ground. (Graphic: from Seybold 2018, Science Adv.)
The distribution of the branching angles of the valleys on Mars is very similar to those found in arid landscapes on Earth. According to lead author Seybold, this implies that there must have been a similar hydrological environment with sporadic heavy rainfall events on Mars over a prolonged period of time and that this rainwater may have run off quickly over the surface shaping the valley networks. This is how river valleys develop in arid regions on Earth. For example, in Arizona, researchers observed the same valley network patterns in a landscape where astronauts are training for future Mars missions.
Valleys in arid regions fork at a narrow angle
The branching angles on Mars are comparatively low. Seybold therefore rules out the influence of groundwater sapping as the major channel forming process on Mars. River networks that are formed by re-emerging groundwater, as found, for example, in Florida, tend to have much wider branching angles between the two tributaries and do not match the narrow angles of streams in arid areas.
Conditions such as those found in terrestrial arid landscapes today probably prevailed on Mars for only a relatively short period about 3.6 to 3.8 billion years ago. In that period, the atmosphere on Mars may have been much denser than it is today. “Recent research shows that there must have been much more water on Mars than previously assumed,” says Seybold.
Evaporation made it rain
One hypothesis suggests that the northern third of Mars was covered by an ocean at that time. Water evaporated, condensed around the high volcanoes of the highlands to the south of the ocean and led to heavy precipitation. As a result, rivers formed, which left traces that can still be observed on Mars today.
The big question is where the water has disappeared to over time. “It’s likely that most of it evaporated into space. But it could still be found in the vicinity of Mars,” says the physicist., “ but this is a question for a future space mission”.
