Science
Related: About this forumPossible new type of glacier just discovered on Mars
By Stephanie Pappas - Live Science Contributor about 15 hours ago
Strange landforms look like a Martian version of Antarctic ice streams.
The textures of Arcadia Planitia, captured in 2001 by the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. (Image credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University)
A potential Mars landing site might be underlain by debris-covered glaciers.
Strange sinuous features on a flat plain known as Arcadia Planitia bear a striking resemblance to ice streams within ice sheets in Antarctica, a new study finds. If these shallowly covered glaciers do, in fact, exist, they could be a reason to direct future crewed missions to Mars toward the region. The spot was already intriguing to SpaceX and NASA because it is a broad, flat plain, which is ideal for landing spacecraft. If there is ice not too deep below the surface of the plain, astronauts could also have a water source easily at hand.
The newfound flow-like features are strange because they occur on flat terrain, said study leader Shannon Hibbard, a doctoral student at the University of Western Ontario in Canada.
"There's lots of evidence that this is an ice-rich area, but we don't have any major topographic relief occurring where these sinuous features are," Hibbard told Live Science. "They're existing in a pretty flat-lying plane, so that was kind of odd."
More:
https://www.livescience.com/mars-arcadia-planitia-glaciers.html?utm_source=Selligent&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=LST_Newsletter&utm_content=LST_Newsletter+&utm_term=3403514&m_i=RD%2B8qqEQX5Jf7Ykk%2ByEoUjw6_7eSSvxYQsAT%2BXvuo8oetgYTFBptb1FnbTv3%2B5V2NFmslFpR6ZeDrtm2CSPcHfyG%2BOmCE5VCCn6WdbRRRX&lrh=d43f3ce40e3ceae0368b3520fbc367f28c0c5e819c08493f82fed375e81c28a1
Wounded Bear
(58,626 posts)Victor_c3
(3,557 posts)From the article:
This is a controversial claim, Hibbard said, because most ice streams on Earth require at least a thin layer of liquid water at their base to lubricate their flow.
So, this could mean there could be liquid water on Mars.
Despite the fact that weve been studying this planet for decades, I find it remarkable that we still havent ruled out if there is life on Mars or not