CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Andersen, D.T.; Pollard, W.H.; McKay, C.P.; and Omelon, C.
Date : 1998
Title : Perennial springs in the Canadian High Arctic - Analogs of past Martian liquid water habitats
Publication : Program and Abstracts, American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
Perennial springs located on western Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian High Arctic provide useful analogs to liquid water habitats that may have existed on the planet Mars during a more clement past over 2 GYA. The springs occur in a region with a mean annual air temperature of -17° C and thick, continuous permafrost reaching depths of 600-1000 meters. Spring flow rates and discharge temperatures are constant throughout the year. Filamentous bacteria, biofilms and mineral precipitates occur in association with the emergent brine flowing from the springs providing a mechanism for the preservation of biological information within travertines and thick salt deposits located along the flow paths. The springs located at Axel Heiberg provide an example of how hydrothermal systems work in the presence of thick permafrost - as would be expected to have been present on Mars during an earlier, more habitable period. Insight gained from the study of terrestrial polar spring environments may help guide the site selection of targets of exobiological interest as well as aide in the interpretation of data resulting from missions to those sites.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology