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SUMMARY:Landscape evolution on Mars: characterizing the ancient hydroclima
 te using paleolake morphologies - Gaia Stucky de Quay (University of Texas
 )
DTSTART:20210210T160000Z
DTEND:20210210T170000Z
UID:TALK155284@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Sam Wimpenny
DESCRIPTION:Fluvio-lacustrine features on the martian surface attest to a 
 climate that was radically different in the past. Studies of valley networ
 ks and paleolakes suggest that long-lived precipitation may have persisted
  up to 3.7 Ga. However\, because climate models have difficulty sustaining
  a liquid hydrosphere at the surface (>105 yr)\, it has been hypothesized 
 that multiple cycles of runoff episodes may have characterized the ancient
  martian climate. Despite the decades-long accumulation of in-situ and rem
 ote sensing data on surface water modification features\, fundamental ques
 tions on the nature of Mars' paleoclimate and its hydrological cycle remai
 n: (1) How much rainfall and/or snowmelt occurred during a given interval 
 of favorable climate?\; and (2) How long did these runoff-producing episod
 es last? Here we combine measurements of 96 open- and closed-basin lakes w
 ith simple hydrological balances to constrain catchment-averaged precipita
 tion over a given runoff episode. We include 13 systems containing both op
 en- and closed-basin lakes—coupled systems—which provide fully bounded
  precipitation estimates. We show that\, on average\, local precipitation 
 was ≳4 m and ≲159 m\, and the climate was semi-arid or more humid in c
 ertain regions. We integrate these results with existing climate model dat
 a to quantitatively derive runoff episode duration and its spatial distrib
 ution across the martian highlands.  Importantly\, these spatio-temporal h
 ydroclimate constraints allow us to test paleoclimate model scenarios\, wo
 rking towards bridging the gap between geological observations and climate
  theory for early Mars.
LOCATION:ONLINE - Details to be sent by email
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