Classification and analysis of candidate impact crater-hosted closed-basin lakes on Mars

Abstract

We present a new catalog of 205 candidate closed-basin lakes contained within impact craters across the surface of Mars. These basins have an inlet valley that incises the crater rim and flows into the basin but no visible outlet valley, and are considered candidate closed-basin lakes; the presence of a valley flowing into a basin does not necessitate the formation of a standing body of water. The major geomorphic distinction within our catalog of candidate paleolakes is the length of the inlet valley(s), with two major classes – basins with long (>20km) inlet valleys (30 basins), and basins with short (<20km) inlet valleys (175 basins). We identify 55 basins that contain sedimentary fan deposits at the mouths of their inlet valleys, of which nine are fed by long inlet valleys and 46 are fed by short inlet valleys. Analysis of the mineralogy of these fan deposits suggests that they are primarily composed of detrital material. Additionally, we find no evidence for widespread evaporite deposit formation within our catalog of candidate closed-basin lakes, which we conclude is indicative of a general transience for any lakes that did form within these basins. Morphometric characteristics for our catalog indicate that as an upper limit, these basins represent a volume of water equivalent to a ∼1.2m global equivalent layer (GEL) of water spread evenly across the martian surface; this is a small fraction of the modern water ice reservoir on Mars. Our catalog offers a broader context within which results from the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover can be interpreted, as Gale crater is a candidate closed-basin lake contained within our catalog. Gale is also one of 12 closed-basin lakes fed by both long and short inlet valleys, and so in␣situ analyses by Curiosity can shed light on the relative importance of these two types of inlets for any lacustrine activity within the basin.