Mars Pictures Reveal Frozen Sea

[zavvy]

<b>Mars Pictures Reveal Frozen Sea </b><br /><br />LINK<br /><br />A huge, frozen sea lies just below the surface of Mars, a team of European scientists announced on Monday. <br /><br />Their assessment is based on pictures of the planet's near-equatorial Elysium region that show plated and rutted features across an area 800 by 900km. <br /><br />The team think a catastrophic event flooded the landscape five million years ago and then froze out. <br /><br />They tell a forthcoming edition of Nature magazine that sediments covered the ice, locking it in place. <br /><br />Large reserves of water-ice are known to be held at the poles on Mars but if this discovery is confirmed by follow-up observations, it would be a first for a region at such a low latitude. <br /><br />Dust covering <br /><br />"It's been predicted for a long time that you should find water close to the surface of Mars near the equator," Jan-Peter Muller, from University College London, UK, said. <br /><br />"This is an area where there are a lot of river features but no-one has ever seen a sea before, and certainly no-one has ever seen pack ice before," he told the BBC News website. <br /><br />The interpretation is based on images taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Europe's Mars Express spacecraft. These show extensive fields of large, platy features - reminiscent of the fractured ice floes found in polar regions on Earth. <br /><br />Finding exposed ice at the equator would be unlikely. Very low pressures on the planet would lead to sublimation - the ice would erode over time straight to water vapour. <br /><br />But the research group, led by John Murray, from the Open University, UK, tells Nature that a crust of dust and volcanic ash, perhaps just a few centimetres thick, has prevented this happening. <br /><br />"The story runs that water flowed in some kind of massive catastrophic event; pack ice formed on top of that water and

 

[robotical]

Good story. Would that region be flat enough to send a lander to? It would be cool to send another MER or the MSL to the site. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[zavvy]

<font color="yellow">Would that region be flat enough to send a lander to?</font><br /><br />Looks like it from this image.. but I've read reports that say it's heavily cratered and eroded...<br /><br /><br /><br />

 

[radarredux]

More news can be found here:<br /><br />http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7039<br /><br />You can pick up a 28-page PDF document (courtesy of the above link) at the following FTP site:<br /><br />ftp://www.lpi.usra.edu/pub/outgoing/lpsc2005/full97.pdf<br /><br />The 28-page document (which includes lots of images) includes the text "EMBARGOED BY NATURE MAGAZINE UNTIL MID MARCH" on several pages, so you may want to get your copies now in case the online document is pulled.

 

[vogon13]

Can it be young and heavily cratered at the same time? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[zavvy]

<font color="yellow">Can it be young and heavily cratered at the same time?</font><br /><br />Absolutely!

 

[zavvy]

I almost posted The New Scientist story, but chose the BBC one because I was at their site... <br /><br /><font color="yellow">You can pick up a 28-page PDF document (courtesy of the above link) at the following FTP site..</font><br /><br />Thanks for the link but I'm unable to download the PDF... <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /> <br /><br />Is anyone else having a problem..??

 

[elguapoguano]

I get timed out when trying to hit it myself... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#ff0000"><u><em>Don't let your sig line incite a gay thread ;>)</em></u></font> </div>

 

[tychotospace]

see this very interesting PDF <br /><br />ftp://www.lpi.usra.edu/pub/outgoing/lpsc2005/full97.pdf

 

[zavvy]

That's the same link RadarRedux posted...<br /><br />I still can't get it to download.... <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" />

 

[radarredux]

I stuck the PDF file (full97.pdf) on my .mac account. The file might end up on your machine as a binhex (.hqx) file -- an old format used for transfering binary files. Most programs such as Winzip (PC) and StuffIt (Mac) should decode it. Go to the link below and click the file name (full97) or the download button.<br /><br />http://homepage.mac.com/todd_heberlein/Files/FileSharing43.html

 

[alpha_taur1]

I downloaded a copy before it was marked embargoed for Nature. I can email a few copies if anyone is interested.

 

[fangsheath]

Although this area (yellow) is indeed quite intriguing, data from Mars Odyssey indicate that it has a much lower water equivalent hydrogen abundance than the Memnonia region to the SE (purple). This does not necessarily mean the ice is not there - it could be, for example, too deep to be picked up by this device. However, based on what we know now I would tend to give Memnonia a higher priority for future rovers or landers.

 

[exoscientist]

You can see the abstract in this link:<br /><br />MARS: FROM HYDROGEN TO ICE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE.<br />http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2005/pdf/sess97.pdf<br /><br /> This has several abstracts discussing current near equatorial ice close to the surface including in Tharsis.<br /><br /><br /> Bob Clark <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[zavvy]

RadarRedux...<br /><br /><font color="yellow">I stuck the PDF file (full97.pdf) on my .mac account. </font><br /><br />That was very kind of you to do that. However, before I saw your post, I was finally able to download the PDF from the original link... haven't read it all yet, but it looks fascinating!

 

[claerwen]

The piece of the article I liked best was the quote "the Mars Express probe will be deploying its MARSIS experiment in May."<br /><br />Finally! I think this experiment will give us the best idea of where to land.

 

[fornax]

"but I've read reports that say it's heavily cratered and eroded... "<br /><br />Why don't you check out the region for yourself? I don't know what reports you're reading because they bear no relation to the actual region.<br />