Rivers on Mars, Earth teach scientists about climate change - study - The Jerusalem Post

What was the climate on Mars like in ancient times? - The Jerusalem Post

A new study has examined how the paths of rivers on both Earth and Mars have changed over time, providing insights on how climate change could affect rivers in the future as well as insights on Mars' ancient climate.

The peer-reviewed study, published in Nature Geosciences last week, focused on changes in river sinuosity, meaning how much rivers curve. The sinuosity of rivers changes based on the age of the river and environmental changes such as sediment changes, water supply changes, and changes in riverbank vegetation.

The study, led by Chenliang Wu, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at Tulane University School of Science and Engineering, found that the curve of rivers changes based on how much water is flowing through the river, which can be affected by a number of factors, such as precipitation levels.

The researchers examined maps of 21 lowland meandering rivers on Earth using historical data from as early as the fifth century and images from as early as 1939. They also examined ancient riverbeds on Mars using previously identified river channels from remote sensing data.

The researchers separated the examined rivers into two categories: variable-sinuosity and constant-sinuosity. Rivers categorized as variable-sinuosity continued changing and did not reach a steady state, while constant-sinuosity rivers did reach a steady state.

Of the rivers on Earth studied by the researchers, 13 had variable sinuosity and eight had constant sinuosity.

How the study will help researchers and engineers

The findings of the study will help researchers and engineers understand how to manage rivers in the future as the effects of climate change become more pronounced. The findings may also help with river restoration, infrastructure projects, and flood management.

The data from the riverbeds on Mars gave the researchers the ability to test their hypotheses on how river systems change as they are untouched by human influence. The data also contributes to efforts to understand what the climate on Mars was like when there was still liquid water on the surface.

“It really lays the foundation for more advanced topics, like, were the environmental conditions suitable for life on Mars?” said Wu, according to an article on Tulane’s website.