Breaching of Valles Marineris led to ~34 m Martian sea level rise — E8 Intelligence Research
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: The northern plains of Mars, once occupied by the hypothesized Oceanus Borealis, preserve multiple shoreline levels that record changes in sea level and ocean configuration. Episodic, high-magnitude floods that debouched into the northern lowlands are a plausible mechanism for these fluctuations. Here, we quantify the hydrologic and geomorphic consequences of breaching of Valles Marineris (VM), which once contained extensive water bodies (approximately 2.369 × 1015 m3), using two-dimensional hydraulic modeling. Of this volume, simulations indicate that the catastrophic failure of the eastern VM boundary, associated with overtopping and downcutting, released ~1.245 × 1015 m3 of water, producing a global mean sea-level rise of ~34 m and a local transient rise of ~324 m at the outflow terminus. Geomorphic features along the outflow channels, such as streamlined islands and deltaic deposits, corroborate the modeled flood dynamics and confirm larg Author: Andrew Stewart Caldin, Independent Researcher, UK. Part of the E8 Intelligence Research series. Platform: e8intelligence.com
Author: Caldin, Andrew Stewart
Language: English
Subfield: Space and Planetary Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225783765
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