Geomorphic evolution of pleistocene Lake Bonneville: temporal implications for surface processes on Mars

Pleistocene Lake Bonneville of the Great Basin offers unparalleled insight into temporal constraints for understanding the development of similar analog environments and processes on Mars. The extensive and well preserved lake system exhibits many intact features that include: prominent shorelines, spits, bay mouth barriers, deltas, gullies, outburst channels, and playa lake features, including patterned grounds and downwind aeolian systems. Although water is recognized as a geomorphic agent on Mars, remotely sensed datasets by themselves have limited utility for inferring how long it took for the formation of specific features. With the Lake Bonneville analog, we can address how long standing water might be geomorphically effective, and infer the rate of development for specific landforms (e.g., coastlines, wavecut terraces, outflow channels, rills).