WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.399 --> 00:00:07.719 Welcome to Bedtime Astronomy. Explore the wonders of the cosmos 2 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:12.279 with our soothing Bedtime Astronomie podcast. Each episode offers a 3 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:16.320 gentle journey through the stars, planets, and beyond, perfect for 4 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:20.239 unwinding after a long day. Let's travel through the mysteries 5 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:22.440 of the universe as you drift off into a peaceful 6 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:25.960 slumber under the night sky. 7 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:29.199 When you think about Mars, you know, the image that 8 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:32.799 instantly pops into your head is the red planet. It's dusty, 9 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:36.799 it's cold, desolate and just utterly profoundly dry. 10 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:40.960 Right, It's the planet of rust, of a thin, wispy atmosphere, 11 00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:44.759 and we think of its surface as being carved by wind. 12 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:49.079 Not water, and it's looked that way for well, for eons, 13 00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:52.200 billions of years. But here's the thing, the shift and 14 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:57.240 perspective that we really need. Ancient Mars. It was dramatically, 15 00:00:57.280 --> 00:00:58.359 fantastically wet. 16 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:02.119 Oh absolutely, it had water flowing, collecting and eroding in 17 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:05.159 volumes that we are i mean only now really beginning 18 00:01:05.239 --> 00:01:05.840 to quantify. 19 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:09.200 And that quantification that's the essential leap forward here, isn't 20 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:09.680 it is? 21 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:12.120 For decades the debate was really just centered on the 22 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:14.239 existence of water, you know, was it there? 23 00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:16.560 We spent so long just looking for the smoking. 24 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:19.480 Gun exactly, and now the question has shifted entirely. It's 25 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:22.079 about scale, it's about structure. It wasn't just wet, it 26 00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:24.959 was and this is the keyword organized organized. 27 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:26.519 What do you mean by that? Was it just random 28 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:27.640 pooling or yeah. 29 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:31.000 Well that's the question. Was it just isolated flash floods 30 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:34.239 from say a meteor impact melting some ice, or was 31 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:38.000 it sustained, integrated, almost earth like hydrology. 32 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:40.920 And that is precisely what we are deep diving into today. 33 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:43.799 We have this foundational news study from scientists at the 34 00:01:43.879 --> 00:01:47.359 University of Texas at Austin, UT Austin, and it's just 35 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:49.959 been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 36 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:52.480 And this isn't just another paper confirming water. We're so 37 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:53.879 far beyond that now. 38 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:58.200 This is the first systematic, truly comprehensive mapping of Mars's 39 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:02.879 ancient major river basins, it's watersheds. It's giving us a 40 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:05.040 colossal measure of their past power. 41 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:07.480 So our mission here is to take this new high 42 00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:10.840 tech planetary cartography and really use it to gain insight 43 00:02:10.919 --> 00:02:15.840 into three crucial areas. First, just the sheer, almost unimaginable 44 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:18.879 volume of water ancient Mars held, and like we said, 45 00:02:18.919 --> 00:02:22.199 how it was organized. Second, we need to understand the tools, 46 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:26.120 the really ingenious techniques combining old data with new imagery 47 00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:29.439 that scientists used to map rivers that vanished billions of 48 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:32.199 years ago. Fine, Finally we have to tackle the most 49 00:02:32.199 --> 00:02:35.280 compelling mystery that all this new evidence raises. We're going 50 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:38.560 to review the current scientific consensus on where all that 51 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:39.199 water went. 52 00:02:39.719 --> 00:02:43.159 Okay, let's unpack this. Then we're talking about an immense 53 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:48.680 planetary plumbing system, one that's been completely silent, dormant for 54 00:02:48.840 --> 00:02:51.800 geological ages. So to set the scale for you right 55 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:54.680 at the top, here's the initial shock factor nugget from 56 00:02:54.680 --> 00:02:58.560 this study. This first of is kind mapping identified major 57 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:02.520 drainage systems that reduced and estimated get this, twenty eight 58 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:04.360 thousand cubic kilometers of sediment. 59 00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:07.280 Twenty eight thousand cubic kilometers. I mean, that is a 60 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:10.159 number that forces us to completely recalibrate our models of 61 00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:11.159 early Mars. 62 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:12.840 It's not just little adjustment. 63 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:14.360 No, not at all. We are not talking about mere 64 00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:17.439 streams or temporary ponds. We are talking about Earth scale, 65 00:03:17.479 --> 00:03:21.319 continental river systems, systems capable of eroding and transporting that 66 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:26.080 mind boggling volume of material across vast distances on another world. 67 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:27.800 Just to give you an idea of that size, twenty 68 00:03:27.879 --> 00:03:31.120 eight thousand cubic kilometers is roughly enough sediment to completely 69 00:03:31.159 --> 00:03:34.120 bury the state of Texas. Wow, to bury it under 70 00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:35.879 a layer of dirt one hundred. 71 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:37.639 Feet deep one hundred feet. 72 00:03:37.639 --> 00:03:40.280 That's the sheer scale of the erosional power we are 73 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:45.280 dealing with. So, okay, we're moving from this general abstract 74 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:49.199 idea of water to the specific organization and structure of 75 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:52.639 these water systems. We know the water was there, but 76 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:55.000 what is the organization to that water tell us about 77 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:57.840 the climate on ancient mars. I think this is where 78 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:00.599 the new study really provides the critical insight. 79 00:04:00.840 --> 00:04:05.560 It's the difference between finding, say a small isolated stream 80 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:08.520 bed in the desert right that might have been caused 81 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:11.919 by one single heavy rain. It's the difference between that 82 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:15.520 and mapping the entire Amazon River basin, which requires which 83 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:20.439 requires thousands, maybe millions of years of continuous predictable climate patterns. 84 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:23.120 And doctor Timothy A. Gouge, who led the research, he 85 00:04:23.319 --> 00:04:26.319 encapsulated this finding perfectly. He said that while we've known 86 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:29.040 for a long time there were rivers on Mars, he said, 87 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:31.639 and I'm quoting here, we really didn't know the extent 88 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:34.519 to which the rivers were organized in large drainage systems 89 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:35.560 at the global scale. 90 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:39.000 Okay, let's dig into that. Why does that organization that structure, 91 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:42.079 Why does it change the entire debate? Why is it 92 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:45.680 such a monumental leap forward compared to just finding more 93 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:46.959 evidence of flow. 94 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:52.560 Because organization implies, well, it implies sustained, consistent hydrological cycles. 95 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:56.480 Okay, an actual cycle like on Earth, exactly like on Earth. 96 00:04:56.560 --> 00:05:00.279 Think about our planet. When you see a massive dendritic. 97 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:02.600 Water dendritic meaning tree like right. 98 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:06.360 Like brandecisely, where smaller streams feed into tributaries, which then 99 00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:09.759 feed into major rivers which eventually empty into an ocean. 100 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:14.639 That whole geological structure, it's the accumulated result of millennia 101 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:18.160 of stable weather. It means precipitation was consistent enough to 102 00:05:18.199 --> 00:05:21.560 feed the entire system, runoff was predictable, and the system 103 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:25.040 itself was stable enough to carve deep, integrated channels over 104 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:26.360 a very very long time. 105 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:29.040 So if the water was only caused by these random 106 00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:32.120 episodic events like a massive asteroid impact melting a bunch 107 00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:34.680 of ice, or a huge volcano going off. You just 108 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:37.680 wouldn't get that integrated structure, would you. You wouldn't not 109 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:42.519 at this scale. Those chaotic episodic events they create isolated 110 00:05:42.600 --> 00:05:45.800 channels or massive outflow features. Sure we see those on Mars, 111 00:05:46.519 --> 00:05:50.560 but they don't produce a sprawling, globally scaled network of 112 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:54.879 interconnected systems that drain thousands of square kilometers in a 113 00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:58.600 coordinated way. This kind of integrated system, it confirms the 114 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:02.399 presence of a climate that'd sustain large scale, stable river 115 00:06:02.519 --> 00:06:05.920 flow over long periods, and that makes the ancient planet 116 00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:09.079 much more earth like than some of the colder, dryer 117 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:10.839 models previously suggested. 118 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:14.279 And it's important to note these researchers weren't just looking 119 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:18.120 for small, localized streams. They intentionally set a very high 120 00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:21.000 bar for what even qualified as a system worth mapping. 121 00:06:21.079 --> 00:06:23.120 That's a crucial point. They were specifically hunting for the 122 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:24.199 planetary heavyweights. 123 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:25.959 So what was the threshold to define a scale? 124 00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:29.920 They established a specific methodological threshold for inclusion. They only 125 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:32.920 mapped drainage systems that exceeded one hundred and five square 126 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:34.160 kilometers in surface area. 127 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:37.279 That sounds incredibly precise one hundred and five. Why that 128 00:06:37.319 --> 00:06:39.720 specific area is it arbitrary, Not at all. 129 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:43.639 It's a crucial methodological anchor. One hundred and five square 130 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:46.800 kilometers is a common baseline area used in geology for 131 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:50.920 defining what qualifies as a large drainage system right here 132 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:51.399 on Earth. 133 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:54.120 Ah, so the using our own planet is the yardstick. 134 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:58.680 Exactly. By using this comparable terrestrial threshold, they weren't trying 135 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:01.560 to capture every small that might have been created by 136 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:05.759 some seasonal melt. They were systematically looking for features that 137 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:10.480 qualify as major rivers, as large scale drainage basins, the 138 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:13.759 kind of systems that define the regional climate and geology 139 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:14.480 of a planet. 140 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:16.959 So it ensures that what they're studying on Mars is 141 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:21.279 comparable in scale and in its implications to a significant 142 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:22.920 river system we'd recognize today. 143 00:07:23.079 --> 00:07:26.079 Right by using that one hundred and five scare kilometer standard, 144 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:28.560 they are essentially saying, if the system were on Earth, 145 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:31.240 it would be a major hydrological feature we would study 146 00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:34.800 in depth. It forces the conversation away from any marginal, 147 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:36.680 maybe temporary water activity. 148 00:07:36.920 --> 00:07:39.079 It puts the focus squarely on the systems that did 149 00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:41.720 the heavy lifting, the ones that really shape the surface. 150 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:45.240 It absolutely does, and it supports a central tenet in 151 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:47.360 geology we call uniformitarianism. 152 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:49.800 The present is the key to the past. 153 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:52.879 The very same idea, The same natural laws and processes 154 00:07:52.920 --> 00:07:56.199 that operate today operated in the past. So if a 155 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:59.839 system of a certain size requires a sustained climate here 156 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:03.720 on Earth, it almost certainly required a sustained climate there 157 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:04.319 on Mars. 158 00:08:04.519 --> 00:08:07.600 And the systematic approach also meant they had to define 159 00:08:07.639 --> 00:08:12.279 exactly what components constituted an organized system. They weren't just 160 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:13.920 looking for wiggly lines on a map. 161 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:16.319 That's right. A watershed is a holistic unit. It's not 162 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:19.600 just a single channel. So they listed four key components 163 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:22.519 they needed to successfully map and link across these vast 164 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:25.279 areas to declare a system organized. 165 00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:28.560 And you know, major, what were those four defining components? 166 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:31.920 Okay, so first the river systems themselves, that's the main channels, 167 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:34.960 the smaller tributaries flowing into them, that whole dendritic network 168 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:36.039 structure we talked. 169 00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:37.600 About the branches of the tree right. 170 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:41.440 Second, the water deposit systems. These are the region often 171 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:44.279 big sedimentary planes where the water lost its speed and 172 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:46.360 started to deposit its carried load of sediment. 173 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:48.679 So the source in the sink the beginning and the 174 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:49.799 end of the line exactly. 175 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:54.360 Third, the outlet canyons. These were often dramatic, high energy 176 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:57.559 exit points where massive volumes of water estaped a basin, 177 00:08:57.879 --> 00:09:01.320 potentially flowing out to the vast north than lowlands of Mars. 178 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:05.080 And the fourth piece and fourth the lakes and valley networks. 179 00:09:05.399 --> 00:09:08.639 These represent the temporary or in some cases long term 180 00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:12.559 reservoirs where water accumulated before either evaporating or flowing out 181 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:14.279 through one of those outlet canyons. 182 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:17.000 It's just fascinating that they needed to find all four 183 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:21.120 of those elements connected together. That really demonstrates an integrated structure. 184 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:24.399 It does by linking all those arteries and veins together 185 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:28.039 across these huge areas, they essentially move the needle from okay, 186 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:34.039 Mars had water to Mars had a functioning planetary scale hydrological. 187 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:36.799 Cycle, and it confirms a period of Martian history where 188 00:09:36.840 --> 00:09:41.679 precipitation and surface conditions were just fundamentally different. To sustain 189 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:45.919 sixteen of these massive systems requires more than just occasional melt. 190 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:48.840 It requires a warm enough surface and a dense enough 191 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:53.879 atmosphere for water to flow, collect and erode across enormous distances. 192 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:58.159 It confirms a vast, ancient and very active history for 193 00:09:58.240 --> 00:09:58.799 the planet. 194 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:00.240 Now we get to a part of this that I 195 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:03.039 find truly intriguing. Here's where it gets really technical and 196 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:07.919 I think really inspiring. How exactly do scientists map the 197 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:12.000 beds and channels of rivers that vanished literally billions of 198 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:14.919 years ago, right, rivers that are now potentially buried under 199 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:17.559 shifting Martian dust or thick lava fields. Are these massive 200 00:10:17.559 --> 00:10:21.080 wind blown deposits. We are relying entirely on remote sensing, 201 00:10:21.320 --> 00:10:24.159 on orbiting instruments for this historical reconstruction, and. 202 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:27.279 This specific mapping effort is just a masterclass in combining 203 00:10:27.320 --> 00:10:31.039 different types of orbital data. It's really clever. To reconstruct 204 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:35.679 ancient waterflow. You need two crucial, high precision pieces of information. 205 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:38.320 You need to know where the ground is so extreme 206 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:43.120 precision on altitude topography, the topography exactly, and you need 207 00:10:43.159 --> 00:10:46.200 a high resolution visual proof of what is actually on 208 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:46.840 the surface. 209 00:10:47.080 --> 00:10:50.240 Okay, let's start with that foundational data set. The altitude component. 210 00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:54.080 The study relies heavily on an instrument called MOLA. 211 00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:58.080 Yes, the Mars Orbiter Laser e Limiter MLLA was a 212 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:02.200 primary instrument on board NASA is Mars Global Surveyor, which 213 00:11:02.200 --> 00:11:05.200 operated successfully from nineteen ninety seven all the way to 214 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:06.120 two thousand and six. 215 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:08.480 So this is legacy technology we're talking about. 216 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:11.679 It is, and it's a revolutionary piece of legacy technology. 217 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:14.720 MLA works by firing a laser pulse down at the 218 00:11:14.759 --> 00:11:17.720 Martians surface and then timing exactly how long it takes 219 00:11:17.720 --> 00:11:19.759 for that pulse to bounce back to the spacecraft. 220 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:22.519 So it's basically like a super precise tape measure from space. 221 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:24.720 That's a great way to put it. By tracking millions 222 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:27.240 and millions of these pulses globally, you can calculate the 223 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:30.799 distance and map the topography of Mars with extraordinary precision. 224 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:34.840 So EMILA provides the bedrock map. It defines the continental divides, 225 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:37.919 the lowest points, the high points. Crucially, it tells us 226 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.720 which way water would have flowed just based on. 227 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:45.519 Gravity exactly right. You simply cannot define a watershed without 228 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:50.279 incredibly detailed altitude data. The sheer precision of MLA, which 229 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:53.840 is often capable of measuring altitude differences down to the 230 00:11:53.960 --> 00:11:55.879 meter or even submeter scale. 231 00:11:56.200 --> 00:11:57.519 That's incredible, it is. 232 00:11:57.480 --> 00:12:00.720 And that's what allowed the scientists to mathematically model the subtle, 233 00:12:00.919 --> 00:12:04.159 faint gradients of a four billion year old riverbed that 234 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:07.600 might have been partially eroded or buried. It defines the 235 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:10.919 pass of least resistance for every theoretical drop of water 236 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:12.799 across the entire Martian surface. 237 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:16.000 So MLA provides the mathematical framework for the flow paths. 238 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:19.320 But altitude data alone doesn't prove that a river was 239 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:22.440 actually there right, or that the feature wasn't carved by 240 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:24.960 something else like lava, an excellent point. You need the 241 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:27.840 visual confirmation, the proof that the flow was indeed fluvial 242 00:12:27.960 --> 00:12:30.840 water based, and that's where the CTX, the context camera 243 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:31.240 comes in. 244 00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:34.559 Yes, the Context Camera is currently orbiting Mars on board 245 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:36.200 the Mars Reconnaissance. 246 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:38.200 Orbiter or MRO, which is still active. 247 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:42.360 Still very active, and CTX is critical because of its scale. Now, 248 00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:45.759 there are other cameras on MRO that take higher resolution snapshots, 249 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:49.200 like the famous high Rise camera, but ctx's distinction is 250 00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:53.120 its sheer volume of data and its medium resolution coverage. 251 00:12:53.240 --> 00:12:57.039 It has achieved nearly complete coverage of the entire red planet. 252 00:12:57.440 --> 00:12:59.519 So MLA tells you where to look for a drop 253 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:03.039 in elevation, and CTX provides the high resolution imagery you 254 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:06.320 need to actually identify the erosional features along. 255 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:11.000 That path precisely. CTX confirms the geological reality. It allows 256 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:14.120 researchers to identify the detailed structures. You can see the 257 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:17.919 actual river bends, the meanders, You can see layered sedimentary 258 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:20.559 deposits on the valley floors. You can see those subtle 259 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:23.720 dendritic or treelike branching patterns of the valley networks that 260 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:26.919 are so characteristic of organized water erosion. 261 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:29.279 The combination is just so powerful. 262 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:31.519 It really is. You use EMLA to trace the flow direction, 263 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:33.960 and then you zoom in with CTX to confirm that 264 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:36.960 the features along that path are indeed ancient river channels. 265 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:39.000 And the beauty of it, as you said, is that 266 00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:43.799 this study synthesizes data separated by decades. It really proves 267 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:47.879 the continuing value of NASA's long term investments in these missions. 268 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:51.559 Absolutely, the data from MARS Global Surveyor is still generating 269 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:53.120 groundbreaking science today. 270 00:13:53.480 --> 00:13:57.159 But how do you actually reconcile and overlay these massive, 271 00:13:57.279 --> 00:14:00.840 complex data sets. This is where the specifics software comes in. 272 00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:04.080 The source mentions. They used RGIS pro, and. 273 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:06.600 This is an important detail for you the listener to note. 274 00:14:06.759 --> 00:14:10.720 RGIS pro is a commercial industry standard geographic information system 275 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:14.720 a GIS. It's used by cartographers, city planners, geologists all 276 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:15.840 over the world for Earth. 277 00:14:15.879 --> 00:14:18.039 So it's off the show software it is. 278 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:21.080 And the fact that planetary scientists use this same software 279 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:24.039 underscores the universality of their methods. They're using the same 280 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:26.240 tools to map mars that someone might use to map 281 00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:27.879 a new highway system in Ohio. 282 00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:32.519 So how does that software bridge the gap BETWEENMAS data 283 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:34.240 and ctx's images. 284 00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:38.399 It allows for seamless data layer integration in a GIS. 285 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:42.000 You can treat MLA's topography data as one massive layer 286 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:45.519 that's your elevation map. Then you can overlay ctx's visual 287 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:47.159 imagery as a second layer right on. 288 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:49.039 Top of it, and you can add more layers. Isome? 289 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:51.759 Oh yeah, you could add a third layer for mineral mapping, 290 00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:54.080 which we'll get to later, a fourth layer defining those 291 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:58.159 hundred and five square kilometer catchment boundaries. And rgis pro 292 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:01.919 allows researchers to define perarameters. You can tell it show 293 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:04.960 me all the features from the CTX images that exhibit 294 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:08.360 dendritic patterns A and D whose lowest point connects to 295 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:12.240 the mathematically predicted flow path we derived from the MLLA data. 296 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:14.720 So it automates the search in a way. 297 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:18.759 It makes the search systematic, objective and reproducible. It moves 298 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:23.320 planetary geology into this new era of verifiable cartography using 299 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:26.080 the exact same tools we use to manage resources right 300 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:26.679 here on Earth. 301 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:30.440 And this systematic, rigorous mapping methodology is what gives these 302 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:33.919 hard numbers their weight, their authority. So let's shift our 303 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:37.600 focus now entirely to the tangible results, the specific measurements, 304 00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:40.000 and the sheer impact of these ancient river systems on 305 00:15:40.039 --> 00:15:40.840 the Martian surface. 306 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:46.399 Okay, the findings derived from this MLACTX fusion are remarkably clear. 307 00:15:47.080 --> 00:15:51.960 The researchers successfully mapped sixteen highly organized drainage systems that 308 00:15:52.039 --> 00:15:55.679 exceeded that one hundred and five square kilometer baseline, fifteen 309 00:15:55.720 --> 00:15:58.639 of them sixteen. And these are not just suggestions of waterways. 310 00:15:59.080 --> 00:16:02.559 They are now the ignore the knowledge major integrated continental 311 00:16:02.600 --> 00:16:05.120 scale hydrological features of ancient Mars. 312 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:08.919 And once again that sediment volume twenty eight thousand cubic 313 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:12.759 kilometers in material I've spent some more time on this number, 314 00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:15.240 because it really is the core measure of the water's power. 315 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:18.480 Can we try and quantify that volume with some more 316 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:20.039 vivid earth based analogies. 317 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:21.840 We have to, it's the only way to grasp it. 318 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:25.080 The sheer volume moved by just these sixteen systems, it's 319 00:16:25.480 --> 00:16:28.120 comparable to the mass of a small terrestrial mountain range. 320 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:31.919 Instead of being lifted up, it was transported across the surface. Wow, 321 00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:33.799 here's another way to think about it. If you took 322 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:36.080 all the water in Lake Superior, which is the largest 323 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:38.879 of the Great Lakes by volume, the sediment moved by 324 00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:42.399 these Martian systems is equivalent to filling Lake Superior approximately 325 00:16:42.440 --> 00:16:44.360 three times over with pack dirt and rock. 326 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:48.080 Three Lake Superiors worth of dirt just moved by water. 327 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:51.639 That is a stunning measure of the erosional work done 328 00:16:51.639 --> 00:16:53.480 by Martian water during its wet periods. 329 00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:56.600 That is a staggering amount of material to move. It's 330 00:16:56.639 --> 00:16:59.799 so hard to imagine that level of fluvial erosion on 331 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:02.360 a planet we think of is static and frozen. It is, 332 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:05.400 but the context becomes even sharper when we look at 333 00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:10.200 the relative contribution of these sixteen systems to the total planetary. 334 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:12.559 History, which brings us to the forty two percent figure. 335 00:17:12.759 --> 00:17:13.000 Right. 336 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:16.640 The study concluded that these sixteen map systems comprise approximately 337 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:19.680 forty two percent of the total flowing sediment volume across 338 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:22.279 all of ancient Mars, and this is arguably the most 339 00:17:22.279 --> 00:17:24.960 crucial takeaway regarding the nature of Martian hydrology. 340 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:27.960 Okay, let's stop there and really analyze that forty two percent. 341 00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:32.839 If Mars had potentially thousands of smaller, unorganized streams, creeks, 342 00:17:32.839 --> 00:17:35.319 and flash flood events, which we know it did, how 343 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:38.079 can just sixteen large systems account for nearly half of 344 00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:39.640 the planet's total fluvial work. 345 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:42.039 It speaks directly to the efficiency and the duration of 346 00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:42.640 the flow. 347 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:43.160 In those systems. 348 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:47.720 The power was concentrated, highly concentrated. Think about it, sixteen 349 00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:51.680 systems doing almost half the work. That means these specific 350 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:55.839 systems were disproportionately powerful. They had to have operated consistently, 351 00:17:56.119 --> 00:18:00.200 efficiently and for a very very long time. It's strongly 352 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:03.279 suggests that while episodic water events might have initiated some 353 00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:06.160 erosion here and there, the bulk of the planet's surface 354 00:18:06.200 --> 00:18:10.319 sculpting was done by these massive integrated drainage systems. 355 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:12.440 And those systems would require a stable climate. 356 00:18:12.119 --> 00:18:15.920 Regime, a sustained water cycle, perhaps involving rain or snow, 357 00:18:16.119 --> 00:18:19.359 something to keep them flowing for potentially millions of years. 358 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:21.079 So instead of a picture where water was just kind 359 00:18:21.079 --> 00:18:24.160 of everywhere, carding millions of small gullies, the picture shifts. 360 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:27.279 He becomes one where water was highly concentrated in a 361 00:18:27.319 --> 00:18:32.400 few dominant continental basins that really dictated the planet's geological evolution. 362 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:36.400 Precisely, if on Earth forty two percent of all the 363 00:18:36.440 --> 00:18:39.279 fluvial work were done by only sixteen rivers you know, 364 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:42.119 the Amazon, the Nile, the Mississippi, and a few others, 365 00:18:42.680 --> 00:18:46.839 that would imply a global uniformity in topography and precipitation 366 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:49.759 that we just don't see. The fact that the Martian 367 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:53.200 system is so concentrated suggests one of two things. Either 368 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:56.680 Martian topography was incredibly efficient at funneling precipitation into a 369 00:18:56.680 --> 00:19:00.319 small number of giant basins, or the global climate was 370 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:04.519 remarkably stable, allowing only the largest systems to operate long 371 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:07.160 enough to accumulate that massive sediment volume. 372 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:10.519 That concentration of power is immense, and it must offer 373 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:13.640 important constraints for climate modelers, For the people trying to 374 00:19:13.640 --> 00:19:16.279 recreate what the ancient Martian atmosphere must have been like 375 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:17.440 to sustain these giants. 376 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:19.480 Absolutely, it narrows the possibilities. 377 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:21.839 The study also had a specific finding about the role 378 00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:24.960 of the outlet canyons, those dramatic exit points of these systems. 379 00:19:25.079 --> 00:19:28.000 Yes, they quantified the impact of these high energy features, 380 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:30.400 and they discovered that the outlet canyons, the points where 381 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:34.640 large bodies of water like lakes breached or overflowed, contributed 382 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:37.640 approximately twenty four percent of the global river sediment amount 383 00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:38.440 on ancient Mars. 384 00:19:38.519 --> 00:19:41.200 Okay, let's put this two numbers together. We have forty 385 00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:44.680 two percent from the sustained large scale river flow within 386 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:48.400 the basins and twenty four percent from just the outlet canyons. Right, 387 00:19:48.599 --> 00:19:53.240 that twenty four percent implies massive focus potentially catastrophic flows 388 00:19:53.480 --> 00:19:56.599 where the water exited the basin. How do we reconcile 389 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.400 those two things? Does this mean Mars was both sustained 390 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:00.519 and catastrop I. 391 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:03.160 Think it paints a very dynamic picture. The forty two 392 00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:07.359 percent confirms the consistency the long, slow work of erosion 393 00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:10.480 and transport inside the basin, But the twenty four percent 394 00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:13.400 from the canyon suggests that these basins, which likely held 395 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:19.160 massive lakes, occasionally breached or overflowed in huge, violent volumes. 396 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:20.720 So the system would fill up slowly over time. 397 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:24.480 Exactly, it implies that the water flowed consistently filling up giant, 398 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:27.839 long lived lakes, which then sometimes reached a catastrophic tipping 399 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:31.680 point of discharge. These canyon exits acted as high speed funnels, 400 00:20:31.799 --> 00:20:34.920 transporting massive amounts of material from the interior basins down 401 00:20:34.920 --> 00:20:38.119