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Statistical features of drainage basins in mars channel networks

Can one guess from the landscape the past presence of water?

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Abstract.

Erosion by flowing water is one of the major forces shaping the surface of Earth. Studies in the last decade have shown, in particular, that the drainage region of rivers, where water is collected, exhibits scale invariant features characterized by exponents that are the same for rivers around the world. Here we show that from the data obtained by the MOLA altimeter of the Mars Global Surveyor one can perform the same analysis for mountain sides on Mars. We then show that in some regions fluid erosion might have played a role in the present martian landscape.

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Article Open access 17 September 2018

Timothée Sassolas-Serrayet, Rodolphe Cattin & Matthieu Ferry

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INFM UdR di Roma1 and Dip. di Fisica, Universitá “La Sapienza”, P.le A. Moro 2, 00185, Roma, Italy

    G. Caldarelli & V. D. P. Servedio

  2. Institut de Physique Théorique, Université de Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    P. De Los Rios

  3. SMC INFM, Universitá “La Sapienza”, P.le A. Moro 2, 00185, Roma, Italy

    M. Montuori

  4. Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, Compendio Viminale, Roma, Italy

    G. Caldarelli & M. Montuori

Authors
  1. G. Caldarelli
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  2. P. De Los Rios
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  3. M. Montuori
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  4. V. D. P. Servedio
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to V. D. P. Servedio.

Additional information

Received: 6 October 2003, Published online: 14 May 2004

PACS:

92.40.Fb Rivers, runoff, and streamflow - 96.30.Gc Mars - 05.45.Df Fractals

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Caldarelli, G., De Los Rios, P., Montuori, M. et al. Statistical features of drainage basins in mars channel networks. Eur. Phys. J. B 38, 387–391 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2004-00132-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2004-00132-y

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