Posted on 06/17/2013 3:08:42 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: What creates these long and nearly straight grooves on Mars? Dubbed linear gullies, they appear on the sides of some sandy slopes during Martian spring, have nearly constant width, extend for as long as two kilometers, and have raised banks along their sides. Unlike most water flows, they do not appear to have areas of dried debris at the downhill end. A leading hypothesis -- actually being tested here on Earth -- is that these linear gullies are caused by chunks of carbon dioxide ice (dry ice) breaking off and sliding down hills while sublimating into gas, eventually completely evaporating into thin air. If true, these natural dry-ice sleds may well provide future adventurers a smooth ride on cushions of escaping carbon dioxide. The above recently-released image was taken in 2006 by the HiRISE camera on board the NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter currently orbiting Mars.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA]
Carbon dioxide!?!?
Oh No!!!
Soon Mars will be as hot as Venus!!!
It is Imperative that Obama, Gore and their surrogates be sent to Mars to negotiate with Marvin. They must draw a Line in the Sand. Oops that has already been DUNE!
Groovy.
If a big chunk of solid CO2 were sublimating, its size would be constantly decreasing and you wouldn’t get constant-width tracks. The track widths stay constant right to the very end where the tracks stop. I don’t think the sublimating CO2 theory fits.
Good point.
A few days ago someone posted a video of researchers on Earth doing this down some sand dunes. It’s pretty “cool.”
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