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Burr & Parker 2006
Burr, D.M. and Parker, A.H. (2006). Grjotá Valles and implications for flood sediment deposition on Mars. Geophysical Research Letters 33: doi: 10.1029/2006GL028011. issn: 0094-8276.

Grjot¿ Valles is one of Mars' four Amazonian-aged, fissure-headed, catastrophic flood channels. It originates at the northwestern-most Cerberus Fossa and stretches several hundred kilometers eastward and southward. Moats around in-channel knobs and various small-scale mounds, similar to mounds seen in Athabasca Valles, are both attributed to flood-related processes. The floodwater sinks are ambiguous, and the lack of recognizable flood deposits is attributed to two causes. The first cause is the channel's high width-to-depth ratio, which may have facilitated floodwater recession during flooding. The second cause is the tendency of floodwater under lower gravity to move a higher percentage of material as washload. As flood deposits are comprised of bedload and suspended load, this tendency would result in fewer depositional bedforms. Our analysis of Grjot¿ Valles supports the idea that formation of terrestrial-style flood deposits is energetically unlikely on Mars and that their presence indicates special paleohydraulic conditions.

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Abstract

Keywords
Planetary Sciences, Solid Surface Planets, Hydrology and fluvial processes, Planetary Sciences, Solid Surface Planets, Erosion and weathering, Planetary Sciences, Solid Surface Planets, Remote sensing, Planetary Sciences, Solar System Objects, Mars
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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