Documenting drainage evolution in Bir Kiseiba, southern Egypt: Constraints from ground‐penetrating radar and implications for Mars

Abstract

Ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) helps to constrain the origin of relict and largely buried fluvial channels in the Bir Kiseiba region of southern Egypt. Our results indicate that the trunk channel to a tributary system identified in Shuttle Imaging Radar data is incised 10–12 m into bedrock, was southwest draining in its final configuration and laterally migrating toward the northwest, and accentuated relief along the nearby Kiseiba escarpment. Alluvium partially filling the main channel likely reflects effects of increasing aridity and bed load combined with less frequent, flashier precipitation. In contrast to defining channel margins, radar data do not indicate subtle stratigraphic changes in bedding related to fluvial aggradation, but do highlight local reflections likely corresponding to relict alluvial bedforms. Our results support the contention that an impulse GPR system, currently under development, could be deployed on a future Mars rover and assist in defining the regional evolution of the landscape and specific targets for sampling.