Rapid megaflood-triggered base-level rise on Mars

Abstract The existence of ancient fluvial systems on Mars is widely accepted, but little known about how quickly they formed, or what environmental conditions controlled their evolution. We analyzed a sequence well-preserved inner-bank bar deposits within the meander bends multistacked sinuous ridge in Aeolis Dorsa and compared them to similar features Earth establish required for formation. Our results reveal that these Martian channels were highly aggradational, rising an order magnitude higher than terrestrial rivers. This evolution occurred over very rapid time scales, with our estimates suggesting some entire inner-bar set deposits, therefore aggradational channel, may have formed less single year, upper bounds few decades. suggest this unique channel topography was created by rapidly downstream water body, triggered externally sourced megafloods (e.g., crater lake breaches).