Bonneville basin analogues for large lake processes & chronologies of geomorphic development on Mars

Pleistocene Lake Bonneville was a large (~50,000 sq km) terrestrial closed lake system in Utah, USA that developed during the Last Glacial Maximum (~20 ka BP), and persisted at highstand until a catastrophic outburst flood event ~17.4 ka cal BP and warming climate significantly lowered its volume [1]. Lake Bonneville and its modern relict Great Salt Lake (fig. 1) is one of the most extensive, well preserved, and best dated lake systems on Earth and can serve as an analogue for deducing the style of development and age of similar features imaged on Mars [2]. Lake Bonneville exhibits prominent shorelines, spits, bay mouth barriers, deltas, gullies, outburst channels, and playa lake features, including patterned grounds and downwind aeolian systems, all of which are features inferred from imagery of Mars landforms.