Posted on 01/11/2018 1:54:45 PM PST by Red Badger
Buried glaciers have been spotted on Mars, offering new hints about how much water may be accessible on the Red Planet and where it is located, researchers said Thursday.
Although ice has long been known to exist on Mars, a better understanding of its depth and location could be vital to future human explorers, said the report in the US journal Science.
"Astronauts could essentially just go there with a bucket and a shovel and get all the water they need," said co-author Shane Byrne of the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson.
A total of eight ice sites, some as shallow as a few feet (one meter) below the surface, and going as deep as 100 meters or more, have been exposed by erosion.
These underground cliffs, or scarps, appear "to be nearly pure ice," said the report.
The discovery was possible due to images and data sent by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), launched in 2005.
The probe's first find of water on Mars was published in Science in 2010.
- Widespread ice -
But now, scientists realize that ice is more widespread than previously thought, said lead author Colin Dundas, a geologist at the US Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona.
"There is shallow ground ice under roughly a third of the Martian surface, which records the recent history of Mars," he said.
"What we've seen here are cross-sections through the ice that give us a 3-D view with more detail than ever before."
The ice contains bands and color variations that suggest it was formed layer by layer, perhaps as snow accumulated over time, leading to ice sheets.
(Excerpt) Read more at afp.com ...
D’OH !
Deep buried glaciers on Mars...now. Soon to disappear because of Trumpogenic global warming.
Wouldn’t you rather send him to someplace without water? Mercury, perhaps?
Didn’t the Mars Phoenix Lander uncover some sort of ice?
I expect the eco-nazis to soon start court proceedings to stop any and all future explorations of Mars due to its delicate habitat that MIGHT have rare forms of ET life!...............
Zatso?
Prove it.
I heard Elon’s life goal is to live on Mars. Let’s help him
Okay! CSM wr send a few more likely candidates for company? Maybe sorozNazi, pelousy, HilLIARy, Debbie the washerwoman , and you name the rest ....?
we want Hillary to stay right here. I am dieing to see the car fight for the 2020 nomination.
Hillary vs. Moochella vs. Oprah vs. Biden
LOL! I just watched that movie the other night.
Water ice on Mars might be valuable stuff.
It certainly would be valuable to any humans there.
Ha! I agree and u dersfsbd you. But have to admit I’d still like to give them all one way tickets to Pluto. I’d sacrifice the entertainment to be rid of them from our political scene.
first let them destroy their party - then send them to pluto
Hmm, I wonder what else is Underground?
We have to get there before environmentalists prohibit touching anything on the surface.
(You think I’m kidding? Just wait and see.)
—
I don’t think you’re kidding. I think you’re correct. But you’ve got one thing wrong: we can’t get there before the environazis. They’ll be there with us every step of the way.
Oh, I get it! You’re saying that Rodney Dangerfield came from a planet with much higher atmospheric pressure than earth.
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