Assessing the accuracy of paleodischarge estimates for martian rivers
Role: Post-Doc
Team: Bob Craddock (Smithsonian)
Funding: Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program (Post-Doctoral Fellowship)
The flow of water in ancient Martian rivers offers insights into the planet’s past climate. Researchers have used different methods to estimate this discharge, such as linking river width to flow or calculating the amount of water needed to move sediment. However, the accuracy of these methods is uncertain. To test them, we applied the same techniques to Earth rivers with known flow rates. Our results show that estimating discharge based on sediment grain size provides more conservative values, which is often preferable, though both methods carry considerable uncertainty.