The Channels of Mars

Vidicon images returned to Earth by the Mariner IX and Viking space vehicles have irrevocably altered our conceptions of Mars, "the mysterious planet". The Channels of Mars summarizes these findings in a highly readable style, detailing the scientific reality of ancient volcanic mountains, vast chasms, and water-cut channels much larger than any similar feature on Earth. On the basis of morphological evidence, Dr. Baker offers the hypothesis that some of the largest channels were formed by powerful catastrophic floods that cut through the now arid Martian surface. This was not a single event, but probably spanned several hundred millions years in the planet's past, when the environment could have been quite different from the tenuous and cold atmosphere of Mars today. Water for the ancient Martian floods may have come from subsurface permafrost heated by local hot spots or could have been trapped in a pressurized aquifer and released when a violent event, such as a meteorite impact, allowed a sudden outburst of water to the planet's surface. The book also summarizes the considerable new data on Martian geology and landforms derived from recent space missions. Over 100 NASA images and many interpretive maps and figures by the author are included. This book will appeal not only to specialists, but to anyone interested in planetary geology or in the origin of landforms. Dr. Baker is professor of geosciences at the University of Arizona. he is the editor of Catastrophic Flooding, coeditor of The Channeled Scabland, and coauthor of Surficial Geology.