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Distributary Channels

May 16, 2003
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a pattern of branching channels in an apron of debris that distributed the sediment and fluid carried by the large gully on Mars.

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-360, 14 May 2003

At the center of this February 2003 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image is a pattern of branching channels in an apron of debris that distributed the sediment and fluid carried by the large gully below (to the south) of them. The slope decreases from the bottom toward the top of the image-that is, everything is downhill from the bottom to the top. Middle- and polar-latitude gullies were first discovered in MOC images and reported in June 2000. The distributing channels found in this gully apron are a good indicator that the fluid responsible for the gully and distributary channels had properties like that of liquid water. However, of course, the exact nature of the fluid is unknown, because it is no longer present. This picture is located near 47.8°S, 355.6°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left.

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