Fluvial Interpretation of Ridged Units, Northern Sinus Meridiani/Southwest Arabia Terra, Mars

THEMIS, MOC, and HiRISE imagery shows features at various scales that suggest fluvial emplacement of the ridge-forming rock units exposed in northern Sinus Meridiani and southwestern Arabia Terra. The study area -- 10 N to 2 S latitude and 10 W to 8 E longitude -- spans the interface from the southern highlands to the northern plains. Numerous, linear ridges of varying width, orientation and sinuosity (mainly lower sinuosity) are suggestive of fluvial channels. Sets of features can be interpreted as braided channel reaches. Cross-cutting relationships, a common feature of channels on terrestrial fluvial plains, are ubiquitous. Many sinuous features appear as twinned parallel lines, suggesting preferential cementing of coarser channel-bank sediments. A few examples exist of features that can be interpreted as scroll bars and channel augmentation in locally narrow reaches. Layering and internal discontinuities of the Meridiani rocks are consistent with a fluvial interpretation. The regional setting of study-area units accords closely with many terrestrial basins which are occupied by fluvially emplaced sediment bodies known as megafans. Contiguous megafan surfaces (characterized by numerous channel traces, of varied orientation) cover large areas -- 1.25 million sq. km. in S. America -- with radii of hundreds of km. Megafans characteristically lie at the foot of a backing highland, from which rivers supply sediment. The ridged units on Mars lie at the foot of the southern highlands from which numerous river valleys have drained towards Meridiani Planum/southwest Arabia Terra. Further, the present regional slope is apparently away from the highlands, with downslope dimensions of hundreds of km. The low slopes of the northern Meridiani units mirror the typically low regional slopes of terrestrial megafans. Low slopes are conducive to the development of water bodies, which are numerous on some terrestrial megafans. The lacustrine model for the formation of the hematite-bearing unit is thus consistent with a megafan analog. Eroded desert landscapes on Earth show chemically cemented paleo-channels as inverted topography. Paleo- megafans in terrestrial deserts, displaying inverted topography, are the closest morphologic analogs to the ridges of northern Meridiani/southwest Arabia Terra. Further studies -- including quantitative comparisons of ridge characteristics and spectroscopic investigation of cementing minerals -- are underway to determine the origin of these widespread martian units.