mo4ch:>‘Catastrophic’ megafloods created Mars’ giant canyons – study | Mo4ch News

Massive floods at Mars’ now barren lakes may have carved out distinct canyons millions of years ago near sites that NASA might one day turn into a Red Planet landing stripGeologists believe that dried up ‘paleolakes’, once abundant with water, could have flooded, creating canyons like the Valles Marineris that run across the martian surface.One lake pinpointed as a possible “catastrophic” flood site is the Jerezo Crater, a potential landing site for NASA’s Mars 2020 exploration mission.Published in GeoScienceWorld journal, the new study analyzed ‘outlet canyons’ from more than 20 craters thanks to satellite images collected by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which was launched by NASA in 2006.By assessing rock formations around the canyons, the research team, led by UT researcher Tim Goudge and NASA scientist Caleb Fassett, came to the conclusion that at some stage large lakes must have overflowed with water on the planet.The significant flooding is said to have been powerful enough …