MARSIS results update - (Nov. 1st)

[arkady]

Mars Express probes the Red Planet’s most unusual deposits.<br /><br />"<font color="yellow">The radar system on ESA’s Mars Express has uncovered new details about some of the most mysterious deposits on Mars: The Medusae Fossae Formation. It has given the first direct measurement of the depth and electrical properties of these materials, providing new clues about their origin.</font><br /><br /><br />"<font color="yellow">A variety of scenarios have been proposed for the origin and composition of these deposits. Firstly, they could be volcanic ash deposits from now-buried vents or other nearby volcanoes. Second, they could be deposits of wind-blown materials eroded from other martian rocks. Thirdly, they could be ice-rich deposits, somewhat similar to the layered ice deposits at the poles of the planet, but formed when the spin axis of Mars tilts over, making the equatorial region colder.<br /></font><br /><br />Water ice at the equator would be neat. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br />(although I suspect the other scenarios described seems more more likely)<br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "<font color="#0000ff"><em>The choice is the Universe, or nothing</em> ... </font>" - H.G Wells </div>