outflow channel Surface features on Mars, evidence that liquid water once existed there in great quantity, believed to be the relics of catastrophic flooding about 3 billion years ago. Found only in the equatorial regions of the planet.
outflow channel: Geological feature on Mars that appears to have been caused by sudden flooding.
outgassing: The release of gases from a planet's interior.
Outflow channel - A Martian valley with few tributaries probably formed by the sudden melting and runoff of sub-surface water
Outgassing - The release of gas from the interior of a planet or satellite ...
Outflow channels mainly are carved into young surfaces of the northern lowlands.
Valley networks stretch throughout older, heavily-cratered terrains.
Those differences suggest the outflow channels were formed after the valley networks.
Three outflow channels located near the eastern edge of the giant impact basin Hellas, in a view …[Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems] ...
Large outflow channels may have been formed by the sudden catastrophic release of vast amounts of liquid water from areas of collapsed chaotic terrain.
[11] A large release of liquid water is thought to have occurred when the Valles Marineris formed early in Mars's history, forming massive outflow channels.
The landforms were found in an outflow channel which could have been active as recently as two million years ago, and perhaps up to eight million years ago.
On a more regional scale, the new data show that the eastern part of the vast Valles Marineris canyon slopes away from nearby outflow channels, with part of it lying a half- mile (about one kilometer) below the level of the outflow channels.
Some of the most intensely eroded areas on Mars occur along the boundary. Landforms include outflow channels, collapsed areas of chaotic terrain, and an enigmatic terrain of valleys and ridges (known as fretted terrain).
Students examine an image of part of the Mariner Valley complex on Mars with craters and landslides, to see which features formed in what order. (A similar activity using an image with outflow channels and craters is found at: cass.jsc.nasa.
The surface of Mars shows much evidence of the effects of ancient waterways upon the landscape; there are ancient, dry rivers and lakes complete with huge inflow and outflow channels.
 See also: Channel, Planet, Mars, Solar, Earth
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