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So, where did the water on Mars come from?
The Toronto Star ^
| 3/7/04
| Terence Dickinson
Posted on 03/07/2004 2:21:58 AM PST by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker
One things certain,, Humans love a good story...
61
posted on
03/07/2004 9:22:35 PM PST
by
hosepipe
To: Tooters
To: Ophiucus
Lots of hydrogen - lots of oxygen - lots of energy....sounds like a recipe for lots of water. Bump!
Water balloons.
64
posted on
03/07/2004 9:46:56 PM PST
by
Consort
To: P-Marlowe
I happen to think that a lot of the water that is on the earth, came from MarsOur ancestors brought it with them.
65
posted on
03/07/2004 9:48:26 PM PST
by
ASA Vet
("Anyone who signed up after 11/28/97 is a newbie")
To: ASA Vet
Your ancestors are from Mars?
66
posted on
03/07/2004 9:56:18 PM PST
by
P-Marlowe
(LPFOKETT GAHCOEEP-w/o* &AAGG)
To: cynicom
"To have been awash with water, Mars had to have two things, the needed temperature range and sufficient atmosphere."
And the problem with sufficient atmosphere is that Mars is not large enough to have enough gravity to hold a respectable atmosphere in place. Which, to me, points to the idea that Mars was once larger than it is now. That would seem rather hard to explain, but here's my science-fiction crack at it.
There was an intelligent civilization on Mars long ago. Like Earth, it had a Nitrogen-Oxygen atmosphere, but in a different ratio and with other elements as well. They reached a level of science approaching ours, including the technology to initiate a nuclear fission reaction.
Those familiar with the development of nuclear technology may be aware that the guys who initially began a reaction at Trinity had some major cojones. See, there was a sizable number of scientists at the time who believed that a nuclear reaction in our atmosphere would be self-sustaining, and that it would use our atmosphere as fuel. Thank God it didn't happen... but what if that was only due to the particular makeup and percentages of the elements of our atmosphere? What if a different ratio of nitrogen to oxygen -would- trigger such a chain reaction, or a third element could provide a catalyst to keep the reaction going?
So. They set off a nuke. It began a chain reaction in their atmosphere. The primary element, nitrogen, fused. A whole -hell- of a lot of the mass of the planet was blown off in the reaction, accounting for it's smaller size and inability to hold an atmosphere now.
Additional: do you know what you get when you fuse two nitrogen atoms together? You get silicon. That would be... sand. Mars has a whole lot of sand.
Basically, what I'm getting at is that if the scientists pre-Trinity had been right about a nuclear reaction in the atmosphere setting off a chain reaction that would fuse the nitrogen in our atmosphere, Earth would look very very similar to Mars a million years from now.
It's a theory I play with when I think about writing my Great American Science Fiction Novel :)
Qwinn
67
posted on
03/07/2004 10:09:13 PM PST
by
Qwinn
To: Libloather
Do you share?
Not after it's wet... Get some Cheroots, and then cut 'em in half. <g,d&r>
68
posted on
03/08/2004 3:51:06 AM PST
by
Don Joe
(We've traded the Rule of Law for the Law of Rule.)
To: LibWhacker
Thanks so much for passing this along. One more reason I love FR - my fellow FReepers are a virtually infinite source of knowledge!
To: William Terrell
Heat combines free hydrogen and free oxygen, and electricity separates them? Has anybody combined the two elements into water using artificial heat? Artificial heat? Can I get organic heat at my local grocery co-op?
70
posted on
03/08/2004 8:49:21 AM PST
by
donh
To: Preech1
Oddly enough, there are SOME who say the flood was not just an event that happened here on the earth, but was a literal cataclysm.. And the bible says that before the flood, it had never rained on planet earth. Sounds like something cataclysmic happened to me.
71
posted on
03/08/2004 9:00:44 AM PST
by
kjam22
To: Joe Boucher
in a word, GOD. Took 12 posts to get this reply !
BUMP
72
posted on
03/08/2004 9:08:03 AM PST
by
tm22721
(May the UN rest in peace)
To: Qwinn
The ancient predecessors of John Carter, Warlord of Mars, teleported back here with all the water.
...
Actually, the Oort cloud contains massive amounts of cometary material, and I'd suspect the odds are not great that we actually have a reliable notion of what ratios of heavy water they contain, since we haven't sampled much, and their sources seem likely to have been diverse. If there's someplace in the solar system where water is in abundance, then odds are, that's where our water came from. I'm betting on the steady accrection theory--the water's here because it is steadily (or unsteadily) renewed from cometary material.
73
posted on
03/08/2004 9:12:30 AM PST
by
donh
To: donh
Hrmmm... I have a feeling I wasn't the one you meant to reply to.
Qwinn
74
posted on
03/08/2004 9:16:36 AM PST
by
Qwinn
To: Crazieman
Easy. The Bush administration destroyed the martian atmosphere and used all the water.
Doesn't sound plausible. They would have polluted the water and left it to fester.
75
posted on
03/08/2004 3:38:47 PM PST
by
gitmo
(Thanks, Mel. I needed that.)
To: norwaypinesavage
Where did the water come from? "The only reasonable answer is comets."
So then, where did the water in the comets come from?
Mars?
76
posted on
03/08/2004 3:43:15 PM PST
by
gitmo
(Thanks, Mel. I needed that.)
77
posted on
05/22/2005 7:46:46 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(FR profiled updated Tuesday, May 10, 2005. Fewer graphics, faster loading.)
78
posted on
05/22/2005 7:49:15 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(FR profiled updated Tuesday, May 10, 2005. Fewer graphics, faster loading.)
To: ngc6656
The puzzling part of this is that Earth's oceans, and now probably the water that was on Mars, both date from this period. "Where did it come from? The only reasonable answer is comets.
It is reasonable. Who first proposed comets as the source of Earth's water?
Any possibility God had anything to do with this?
Just thought I'd ask.
79
posted on
05/22/2005 7:54:49 AM PDT
by
JoeV1
(Democrat Party-The unlawful and corrupt leading the blind and uneducated)
To: LibWhacker
Where? The mother of all Hydrodstorms.
80
posted on
05/22/2005 8:33:55 AM PDT
by
shellshocked
(They're undocumented Border Patrol agents, not vigilantes.)
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