The generation of martian floods by the melting of ground ice above dykes

Dan McKenzie and Francis Nimmo ()
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Dan McKenzie: Institute of Theoretical Geophysics, Bullard Laboratories, University of Cambridge
Francis Nimmo: Institute of Theoretical Geophysics, Bullard Laboratories, University of Cambridge

Nature, 1999, vol. 397, issue 6716, 231-233

Abstract: Abstract The surface of Mars is cut by long linear faults with displacements of metres to kilometres, most of which are thought to have been formed by extension1. The surface has also been modified by enormous floods, probably of water, which often flowed out of valleys formed by the largest of these faults2. By analogy with structures on Earth3,4, we propose here that the faults are in fact the surface expression of dykes5, and not of large-scale tectonic movements. We use a numerical model to show that the intrusion of large dykes can generate structures like Valles Marineris. Such dykes can provide a heat source to melt ground ice, and so provide a source of water for the floods that have been inferred to originate in some of the large valleys2.

Date: 1999
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DOI: 10.1038/16649

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