No water required? Not sure how this relates to the recent stories about liquid water.
4 thoughts on “Gullies On Mars”
Ever since I worked on the Boeing Mars Sample Return JPL RFP back during my ISU internship, I’ve wondered to what extent many of the features assumed to be evidence of water (past or present) on Mars could be explained by simple aeolian effects. Aeons of gentle ‘weathering’ in Mars’ atmosphere (~1% of Earth’s – enough to be difficult; not enough to be really useful) seems ample time to create features that could seem at first blush as though they might be water-derived.
The unveiling of a potential new kind of water cycle on the Moon, where we’re seeing evidence of water at far lower latitudes than expected, potentially the result of SWIE (incl. H) interactions with the Lunar surface “rich” in free atoms (like O) liberated by UV radiation from the Sun (which is why the surface darkens over time, allowing us to see rays from new craters), possibly enabling the formation of water or at least hydroxyls at latitudes long presumed to have been baked ‘dry’ by the Lunar mid-day Sun. (q.v. the Chandrayaan review of the Cassini data) These kinds of surprises are why I agree with this quote from the article:
‘”When dealing with other worlds, we must take care to remember that unfamiliar processes are possible and even likely in alien environments,” [notes] planetary scientist Colin Dundas with the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Ariz.’
Too bad someone can’t just drive over and check it out.
I wonder on how large a scale this could operate on, like if evidence of megafloods on Mars could also be explained by this process.
Ever since I worked on the Boeing Mars Sample Return JPL RFP back during my ISU internship, I’ve wondered to what extent many of the features assumed to be evidence of water (past or present) on Mars could be explained by simple aeolian effects. Aeons of gentle ‘weathering’ in Mars’ atmosphere (~1% of Earth’s – enough to be difficult; not enough to be really useful) seems ample time to create features that could seem at first blush as though they might be water-derived.
The unveiling of a potential new kind of water cycle on the Moon, where we’re seeing evidence of water at far lower latitudes than expected, potentially the result of SWIE (incl. H) interactions with the Lunar surface “rich” in free atoms (like O) liberated by UV radiation from the Sun (which is why the surface darkens over time, allowing us to see rays from new craters), possibly enabling the formation of water or at least hydroxyls at latitudes long presumed to have been baked ‘dry’ by the Lunar mid-day Sun. (q.v. the Chandrayaan review of the Cassini data) These kinds of surprises are why I agree with this quote from the article:
‘”When dealing with other worlds, we must take care to remember that unfamiliar processes are possible and even likely in alien environments,” [notes] planetary scientist Colin Dundas with the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Ariz.’
Too bad someone can’t just drive over and check it out.
I wonder on how large a scale this could operate on, like if evidence of megafloods on Mars could also be explained by this process.
White Mars, Hoffman:
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/lunarplanet-2001-01a4.html
Awesome, ty for the link. You have a great memory to recall that article from 2001, which sadly predates my space cadet interest.
This raises a number of questions about the risks of any future settlement or terraforming of Mars.