A hydrological continuum in permafrost environments: The morphological signatures of melt-driven hydrology on Earth and Mars

•A hydrological continuum model linking climate to fluvial geomorphology is proposed.•The magnitude and persistence of melt water controls Antarctic hydrogeology.•Similar relationships are inferred for Amazonian-aged landforms on Mars.

This paper examines relationships between the morphology of cold desert hydrological features and the water sources, and it relates the formation of diagnostic deposits and erosion patterns to environmentally controlled patterns of discharge. In particular, three sets of landforms found in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica are compared to similar features on Mars: Antarctic streams/rivers to Amazonian valleys, terrestrial gullies to Martian gullies, and water tracks to recurring slope lineae. Similarities in landform morphology are highlighted for each set. Hydrological characteristics are aggregated or calculated, and they are shown to scale comparably across the landforms for the terrestrial and Martian groups. Accordingly, a hydrological continuum is proposed, linking the magnitude and the persistence of water sources in cold desert environments to flow response and the formation of diagnostic landforms. This concept provides a framework for examining the relationships between climate, hydrology, and geomorphology in the cold desert environments of these two worlds.