Erosive flood events on the surface of Mars: Application to Mangala and Athabasca Valles

► We present a model of megaflooding on Mars, with thermal and mechanical erosion. ► We apply the model to floods in two, well-documented outflow channels. ► We examine variations in the erosive distance and erosion rate of the floods. ► Increasing initial water depth increases erosive distance given other model inputs. ► Thermal erosion dominates mechanical erosion and can explain present channel depths.