Discovery of a geomorphological analog to Martian araneiforms in the Qaidam Basin,Tibetan Plateau
Araneiforms are spider-like ground patterns that are widespread in the southern polar regions of Mars.A gas erosion process driven by the seasonal sublimation of CO2 ice was proposed as an explanation for their formation,which cannot occur on Earth due to the high climatic temperature.In this study,we propose an alternative mechanism that attrib-utes the araneiform formation to the erosion of upwelling salt water from the subsurface,relying on the identification of the first terrestrial analog found in a playa of the Qaidam Basin on the northern Tibetan Plateau.Morphological analysis indicates that the structures in the Qaidam Basin have fractal features comparable to araneiforms on Mars.A numerical model is developed to investigate the araneiform formation driven by the water-diffusion mechanism.The simulation res-ults indicate that the water-diffusion process,under varying ground conditions,may be responsible for the diverse aranei-form morphologies observed on both Earth and Mars.Our numerical simulations also demonstrate that the orientations of the saltwater diffusion networks are controlled by pre-existing polygonal cracks,which is consistent with observations of araneiforms on Mars and Earth.Our study thus suggests that a saltwater-related origin of the araneiform is possible and has significant implications for water searches on Mars.
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