A modeling approach for water and sediment transport in Jezero crater on Mars based on new geomorphological evidence

Abstract

In our study we examined water-related processes and events in the Jezero crater on Mars using flow discharge and sediment transport models of: 1) the western inlet valley carving, 2) the northern inlet valley carving, 3) crater flooding by only northern inlet and 4) by both northern and western inlets, 5) erosion of the western rim by the western inlet, 6) erosion of the eastern rim due to the outlet, 7) water outflow from the crater, 8) outlet valley carving, 9) western delta deposition, 10) northern delta deposition. Detailed geomorphological analyses, delta and valley mapping and measurements served as a base for our investigations. As our knowledge is limited mostly to remote sensing data and only few in situ data from the Perseverance rover, a range of scenarios for each event was modeled by varying, where necessary, the values of input parameters – grain size, channel depth, channel width, channel slope, median grain size, 90th percentile grain size. We calculated the minimum timescales and the minimum volume of available water for each event. The obtained results were interpreted, taking into account the limitations of the model. We found that: 1) the northern inlet participated in the first crater flooding and the eastern rim breaching and it alone could have flooded the crater; 2) the northern and western deltas were deposited during the last incisions of the corresponding inlets; 3) Jezero crater was flooded multiple times, implying open-basin lake conditions during or after the eastern rim breaching. Our findings complement results and interpretations of previous studies and also reveal new insights into the fluvial history in Jezero crater.