Dr. Vic Baker: Martian Megafloods: Investigating the Ice Age Floods Helped Understand Ancient Mars

Lower Columbia Chapter hosts Dr. Victor R. Baker presenting: “Martian Megafloods: How Investigating the Ice Age Floods Helped Advance Geological Understanding of Ancient Mars”

A few billion years ago the planet Mars was somewhat similar in its surface environmental conditions to the Ice Age Earth. At that time Mars had lakes, flowing rivers, glaciers, and even a kind of planetary ocean, the Ocean Borealis. This relatively recent understanding of Ancient Mars was partly achieved because of geological studies of the ice age floods that created the Channeled Scablands landscape of eastern Washington. This talk will focus on some of my personal experience with the relevant geological investigations and discoveries of the past 55 years.

This will be a simultaneous Live/ZOOM presentation Thursday, August 15, 7:00 PM PDT, from Tualatin Heritage Center, 8700 SW Sweek Drive, Tualatin, OR 97062.
If you cannot attend the in-person meeting at THC, join us on-line: click here to join zoom meeting,
Meeting ID: 869 4651 3479 Passcode: 322382
For more information contact: LowerColumbia@iafi.org

Our speaker: Dr. Victor R. Baker is Regents Professor of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, Geosciences and Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona. Dr. Baker has authored or co-authored about 1200 scientific contributions, including 22 books and monographs, 450 research articles and chapters, 560 abstracts and short research reports. His research concerns paleoflood hydrology (a field of study he defined in the 1970’s and 1980’s); flood geomorphology; channels, valleys and geomorphic features on Mars and Venus; catastrophic Pleistocene megaflooding in the northwestern U.S. and central Asia; history/philosophy of Earth and planetary sciences; and the interface of environmental science with public policy.

Dr. Baker has received many honors in geology and geomorphology, and he has supervised more than 70 graduate students, including 31 for the P.hD. degree. His work on megafloods has been featured in multiple television documentaries, including the 2005 NOVA production “Mystery of the Megaflood” and the 2017 NOVA production “Volatile Earth” episode on “Killer Floods.”