NASA Briefing: NASA Images Suggest Water Still Flows in Brief Spurts on Mars

NASA ^ | 6 December 2006

[bd476]

NASA Images Suggest Water Still Flows in Brief Spurts on Mars

12.06.06

   More Images:
    + Groundwater May Be Responsible
    + New Craters
    + Fresh Crater in Arabia Terra

NASA photographs have revealed bright new deposits seen in two gullies on Mars that suggest water carried sediment through them sometime during the past seven years.

" These observations give the strongest evidence to date that water still flows occasionally on the surface of Mars," said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, Washington.

Image right: A new gully deposit in a crater in the Centauri Montes Region. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
+ Full image and caption

Liquid water, as opposed to the water ice and water vapor known to exist at Mars, is considered necessary for life. The new findings heighten intrigue about the potential for microbial life on Mars. The Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor provided the new evidence of the deposits in images taken in 2004 and 2005.

"The shapes of these deposits are what you would expect to see if the material were carried by flowing water," said Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. "They have finger-like branches at the downhill end and easily diverted around small obstacles." Malin is principal investigator for the camera and lead author of a report about the findings published in the journal Science.

The atmosphere of Mars is so thin and the temperature so cold that liquid water cannot persist at the surface. It would rapidly evaporate or freeze. Researchers propose that water could remain liquid long enough, after breaking out from an underground source, to carry debris downslope before totally freezing. The two fresh deposits are each several hundred meters or yards long.

Image left: A new gully deposit in a crater in Terra Sirenum. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

The light tone of the deposits could be from surface frost continuously replenished by ice within the body of the deposit. Another possibility is a salty crust, which would be a sign of water's effects in concentrating the salts. If the deposits had resulted from dry dust slipping down the slope, they would likely be dark, based on the dark tones of dust freshly disturbed by rover tracks, dust devils and fresh craters on Mars.

Mars Global Surveyor has discovered tens of thousands of gullies on slopes inside craters and other depressions on Mars. Most gullies are at latitudes of 30 degrees or higher. Malin and his team first reported the discovery of the gullies in 2000. To look for changes that might indicate present-day flow of water, his camera team repeatedly imaged hundreds of the sites. One pair of images showed a gully that appeared after mid-2002. That site was on a sand dune, and the gully-cutting process was interpreted as a dry flow of sand.

Image right: A colorized view of a new crater on the upper north flank of the Martian volcano Ulysses Patera. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Today's announcement is the first to reveal newly deposited material apparently carried by fluids after earlier imaging of the same gullies. The two sites are inside craters in the Terra Sirenum and the Centauri Montes regions of southern Mars.

"These fresh deposits suggest that at some places and times on present-day Mars, liquid water is emerging from beneath the ground and briefly flowing down the slopes. This possibility raises questions about how the water would stay melted below ground, how widespread it might be, and whether there's a below-ground wet habitat conducive to life. Future missions may provide the answers," said Malin.

Besides looking for changes in gullies, the orbiter's camera team assessed the rate at which new impact craters appear. The camera photographed approximately 98 percent of Mars in 1999 and approximately 30 percent of the planet was photographed again in 2006. The newer images show 20 fresh impact craters, ranging in diameter from 7 feet (2 meters) to 486 feet (148 meters) that were not present approximately seven years earlier. These results have important implications for determining the ages of features on the surface of Mars. These results also approximately match predictions and imply that Martian terrain with few craters is truly young.

Mars Global Surveyor began orbiting Mars in 1997. The spacecraft is responsible for many important discoveries. NASA has not heard from the spacecraft since early November. Attempts to contact it continue. Its unprecedented longevity has allowed monitoring Mars for over several years past its projected lifetime.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, manages the Mars Global Surveyor mission for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

[Strategerist]

disagreement, discussion, and skepticism all should promote thought and hopefully bring both sides of the argument closer to the truth.

Oh, that's been going on for years, sometimes viciously, over the Alan Hills Mars "life" meteorite from Antartica. A lot of it may have been missed once the MSM sort of stopped covering the story.

It varies from scientific journal to scientific journal, but in some you'll see sections at the end where someone attacks a previous paper from another scientist, and then the original author replies - gets pretty nasty (in a sort of formalized way) from time to time. Some fields are nastier than others (and some only got nasty recently, like meteorology/climatology.)

Paleontologists were always sort of famous for all hating each other.

[RightWhale]

Some are deeply worried, not that it will affect their own rock-solid faith, but that others will use it to pry at what they might see as weak points in religion.

[Mamzelle]

re: They seem pretty darn confident which is unusual for NASA unless they're very, very sure.)))

They're very sure that they want to be funded.

[Strategerist]

Some are deeply worried, not that it will affect their own rock-solid faith, but that others will use it to pry at what they might see as weak points in religion.

Ok, but do people actually consider life discovered on another planet as a threat to creationism? (which is a complete mystery to me why) I see so many people that almost seem fearful that anyone would even look.

[verum ago]

I was just trying to promote constructive conversation here on FR, but yeah-- I've seen some of my professors get pretty vitreolic over minor things, especially things in the life sciences.

[Unmarked Package]

In Post #50 ex-snook wrote: "Wonder what is the temperature on the surface that water flows and doesn't freeze? ????"

A model the NASA scientists used to describe this new flow theorizes liquid water beneath the surface of Mars trapped by a dam of frozen ice beneath the surface in open fracture zones such as one expects near an impact crater. In time, the ice dam ruptures and the liquid water rises suddenly to the surface in a violent event and begins to flow down slope. As it flows the liquid water begins to boil and vaporize, not from heat, but due to the low atmospheric pressure on Mars. The flow carries chunks of ice from the ice dam and picks up sediment from the surface as it moves. It resembles a mud slide on Earth.

[bd476]

In consideration of those who might have slow internet connections, I have reduced the size of this photo. Hopefully that helps.

A close-up of this on the NASA site is worth the time it takes to click the link below the photo.

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Groundwater May be Source for Erosion in Martian Gullies



Groundwater May be Source for Erosion in Martian Gullies

[bd476]

Groundwater May be Source for Erosion in Martian Gullies



Groundwater May be Source for Erosion in Martian Gullies

[Strategerist]

On the other hand, in a lot of scientific fields, you see guys that were at each other's throats for over 20 years over some theory, and would tear each other's scientific papers apart, but were otherwise friends.

[RightWhale]

Some are, but when they stop a minute and think about it they usually realize it isn't such a big deal. If life is found on Mars, or on the moon (also possible), everybody will have to integrate that knowledge and most have already figured out one way or another it will be a non-issue.

[OSHA]

[bd476]

Unmarked Package wrote:

"A model the NASA scientists used to describe this new flow theorizes liquid water beneath the surface of Mars trapped by a dam of frozen ice beneath the surface in open fracture zones such as one expects near an impact crater.

In time, the ice dam ruptures and the liquid water rises suddenly to the surface in a violent event and begins to flow down slope. As it flows the liquid water begins to boil and vaporize, not from heat, but due to the low atmospheric pressure on Mars.

The flow carries chunks of ice from the ice dam and picks up sediment from the surface as it moves. It resembles a mud slide on Earth."

"As it flows the liquid water begins to boil and vaporize, not from heat, but due to the low atmospheric pressure on Mars."

Of course, of course! That makes sense.

(And I can almost hear my Chemistry prof's intoning an emphatic reminder, lolol.)

Thank you, Unmarked Package.

[Robe]

Dog gone!!!! them suckers sure look like they're casting shadows !!!!!!

[Unicorn]

SO?

[RightWhale]

So?

This ought to be the end of islamism. They are going to look silly ululating from Thailand to Algeria when people are living on the moon and Mars.

[kinsman redeemer]

LOL - That is the best theory yet! "When you gotta go, you gotta go" Theory

[bd476]

Unicorn wrote: "SO?"

Unicorn, Sulfur S and Oxygen O₂ exist on Mars according to today's announcement of photographed water flow and according to a 2004 article found on Space.com "Mars Stinks: Sulfur Deposits May Make Red Planet Putrid" and linked below.

On Earth, Sulfur S combines with Oxygen 0₂ to form Sulfur Dioxide. SO₂

Then Sulfur Dioxide SO₂combines with Oxygen O₂ to create Sulfur Trioxide SO₃

2 SO₂ + O₂ ------------> 2 SO₃

(Sulfur Dioxide plus Oxygen yields Sulfur Trioxide)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sulfur Trioxide 2 SO₃ dissolves in water H₂O to produce Sulfuric Acid H₂SO₄

SO₃ + H₂O ------------> H₂SO₄

(Sulfur Trioxide plus Water yields Sulfuric Acid)

Mars Stinks: Sulfur Deposits May Make Red Planet Putrid

[bd476]

Thanks for the link, 6SJ7.

[bd476]

Thanks Jedi Master Pikachu.

[GingisK]

Wonder what is the temperature on the surface that water flows and doesn't freeze? ????

At least zero degrees C.