Second Workshop on Mars Valley Networks October 19, 2008

This workshop is dedicated to reviewing our current knowledge of martian valley networks and their terrestrial analogs. For decades valley networks have been regarded as of the best evidence that ancient climatic conditions were capable of supporting liquid water at the surface of Mars. However, a variety of climate models have suggested that early Mars was always cold, forcing us to rethink how these features may have formed. Today the relative roles of groundwater sapping or surface runoff in creating these features remain unclear. Although much recent progress has been made in understanding the general ages of these features, spatial and temporal variations in valley network formation remains unclear. It is also generally difficult to apply traditional techniques for quantifying the characteristics of terrestrial stream channels to valley networks because so little information seems to be preserved. The workshop will be held in Moab, Utah, and the field trips will visit classic examples of theater-headed valleys in layered sedimentary rocks of the Colorado Plateau

Official Website: http://www.nasm.si.edu/marsvalleynetworks/