Spacecraft finds eruptions on Mars (southern polar ice cap and jets of carbon dioxide gas)

AP on Yahoo ^ | 8/16/06 | AP - Los Angeles

[NormsRevenge]

LOS ANGELES - Mars' southern polar ice cap is believed to erupt in a violent fit of heated gas every spring in a process that helps explain why the Red Planet has dark spots in that region, scientists said Wednesday.

Jets of carbon dioxide gas burst from the ice cap as it warms every spring, carrying dark sand and dust that fall back to the surface as dark splotches, concluded Phil Christensen of Arizona State University, who analyzed images from NASA's Odyssey orbiter.

"If you were there, you'd be standing on a slab of carbon dioxide ice," he said in a statement. But gas builds beneath the slab, raising it, and bursts through vents in weak spots, he concluded.

For years, scientists have puzzled over the origin of the dark spots, ranging from 50 feet to 150 feet wide. The spots only appear in the spring, last for several months, and then restart the cycle.

Scientists have thought the spots were part of the ground revealed as the ice disappeared. But Christensen, using the Odyssey camera, found that the spots were as cold as the carbon dioxide ice, suggesting they were a layer of dark material that covered the ice.

[NormsRevenge]

On the Net:

Mars Odyssey camera

[NormsRevenge]

Gas jets spawn dark 'spiders' and spots on Mars icecap

[NormsRevenge]

(Image Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

DARK SPOTS (left) and fans scribble dusty hieroglyphics on top of the Martian south polar cap in two high-resolution MOC images taken in southern spring. Each image is about 2 miles wide. Click on the image to download a 976KB version.

[NormsRevenge]

(Image Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

SPIDERS TRACE a delicate pattern on top of the residual polar cap, after the seasonal carbon-dioxide ice slab has disappeared. Next spring, these will likely mark the sites of vents when the CO2 icecap returns. This MOC image is about 2 miles wide. Click on the image to download an 824KB version

[GeronL]

BUMP-PING

[308MBR]

All this time I though "iknowthetruh" came from Uranus.

NOT ABUSING YOU, just trying to get the Admin Mod's attention without hitting the abuse button.

[GeronL]

#3, pic 'B' are those actual jets of carbon dioxide coming from beneath the surface???? An ACTUAL image?

[Sundog]

That was fun while it lasted.

[taxesareforever]

Global warming on Mars and nary a soul causing it. Go figure.

[308MBR]

Indeed it was.

A first for me, personal threat AND violence in one reply!

ROTFLMFAO!

[Rameumptom]

THE INVASION BEGINS... GNNAANNGKK GNA GNNAAKK

[Prophet in the wilderness]

" Global warming on Mars and nary a soul causing it. Go figure. " that's why the Liberals/MSM have it wrong in naming it " Global Warming " instead it should be called Solar warming.

[aruanan]

Jets of carbon dioxide gas burst from the ice cap as it warms every spring

Hmmm, seasonal global warming leads to increased CO2 on Mars just as solar-caused global warming on Earth leads to increased atmospheric CO2 from methane released from marine methane hydrates.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

space ping.

[samtheman]

Scientists have thought the spots were part of the ground revealed as the ice disappeared.

Oh my god! The ice is disappearing on Mars too?! Does Al Gore know?!

[from occupied ga]

If you were there, you'd be standing on a slab of carbon dioxide ice,"

Ug what a horrible place. Man's future is NOT in space.

[SunkenCiv]

SAND-LADEN JETS SHOOT into the polar sky in this view by noted space artist Ron Miller. It shows the Martian south polar icecap as southern spring begins. Click on the image to download a 5.6MB version. (Image Credit: Arizona State University/Ron Miller)

Nice simulation / artist's conception.

[SunkenCiv]

dusty hieroglyphics

More like cuneiform. ;')

[RightWhale]

you'd be standing on a slab of carbon dioxide ice

It's dry ice. Don't need to go to Mars to stand on that; it is used in the food industry. Standing on dry ice would not be a good idea, BTW.

[GeronL]

Mars is warming up though.