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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: Signs of water found deep within Mars --Mars Express detects subsurface ice and minerals linked to liquid H2O Signs of water found deep within Mars Mars Express detects subsurface ice and minerals linked to liquid H2O By Bjorn Carey Updated: 3:04 p.m. ET Nov. 30, 2005 New observations of Mars' interior have revealed a crater hidden from the surface and new information about ice below the polar cap. The fresh research announced on Wednesday also points to the chemical signatures of past water on Mars, adding to other evidence suggesting a wet past. Scientists have long held that the deep channels and signs of extensive aqueous erosion are evidence that Mars was once a watery world. But these geologic signatures alone are not enough to confirm that liquid water was stable on the planet’s surface for extended periods of time. Story continues below [5; advertisement Liquid water is a key ingredient to life as we know it. While there is no firm evidence that biology has ever existed on Mars, scientists are seeking locations that may once have held standing water as logical places to search with future missions. On Wednesday, researchers on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express team said they have detected minerals on Mars’ surface that could have formed only from long-term exposure to large amounts of liquid water. Global view Over the last 18 months, scientists at OMEGA — Observatoire pour la Mineralogy, l’Eau, les Glaces et l’Activité in France (the Observatory for Mineralogy, Water, Ice and Activity) — have used the visible and infrared mapping spectrometer on board the spacecraft to map nearly the entire surface of the planet. During this time, the instrument detected the two different classes of hydrated, claylike minerals over large but isolated regions of the planet. Phyllosilicate, one of the minerals discovered, forms when molten rock is chemically altered by long-term contact with water. Phyllosilicates were spotted as dark deposits mainly in the Arabia Terra, Terra Meridiani, Sytris Major, Nili Fossae and Mawrth Vallis regions. The second type of mineral, hydrated sulfate, is formed as deposits from salted, generally acidic, water. These were seen in layered deposits in the vast canyon known as Valles Marineris, the Terra Meridiani region, and within dark dunes in the northern polar cap. Image: OMEGA map of hydrated clays ESA / OMEGA / HRSC A map of the Mawrth Vallis region on Mars shows areas where hydrated clays were detected in blue. "An early active hydrological system must have been present on Mars to account for the large amount of clays, or phyllosilicates in general, that OMEGA has observed," said OMEGA principal investigator Jean-Pierre Bibring. After analyzing the surrounding areas, the OMEGA team determined that the phyllosilicates were created more than 3.8 billion years ago. The hydrated sulfates would not require as much time to form, but acidic water must be present. The mineral-rich regions could be interesting places to explore with future missions, said Bibring, who presented a map of Mawrth Vallis region where the water-rich minerals, shown in blue, were detected. "All the blue spots are where we should go in the future," Bibring said. Water ice today Researchers with the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding instrument on board the orbiter also presented their observations of the northern polar ice cap and evidence of subsurface ice — research that was published Wednesday in the online version of the journal Science. Two "radargrams" created by MARSIS show echoes obtained from a circular structure beneath the Martian surface, interpreted to be a buried impact basin. From the reflection and absorption intensities of the 1.1-mile-thick (1.8-kilometer-thick) ice cap, they have determined that it is nearly pure water. "The dust component must be very small — two percent or less based on absorption," said MARSIS co-principal investigator Jeffrey Plaut. The low-frequency radar instrument also revealed a buried crater basin in the northern Chryse Planitia lowlands. Although the giant crater is nearly 160 miles (250 kilometers) in diameter, it is shallowly buried and invisible on the planet’s surface. Additional MARSIS radar probes have shown a half-mile-thick (1-kilometer-thick) deposit of material in the basin that has the characteristics of ice, suggesting that water once flowed into the crater. "We have no convincing evidence yet of subsurface liquid water," Plaut said, adding that it is very early on in the search. "However, we can certainly say that we have seen significant amounts of subsurface water in the form of ice. The search for liquid water will begin in earnest next year." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10267254/from/RSS/
Poster Comment: Geez, water, methane, what's next, life and/or ruins like giant pyramids? scientists wrong AGAIN, woo woos right on the money. gang, quit believing what any paid official tells you, okay? they're just repeating what they're told to.
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#1. To: All, randge, lodwick, diana, j_hoffa, axenolith, former lurker, puddles the incontinent clown (#0)
they LIED to us, man!! uh, yeah...
Whenever people ask me, 'hey, you know what you should do? I always say 'What? Buy a monkey?'
What, our kind and benevolent leaders lie? No way, why I can't even fathom the thought. I can't believe you would even suggest such a thing ;)
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth." - Albert Einstein
The real liar is that Richard C. Hoagland dude ;)
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth." - Albert Einstein
just another quack....another idiot roundly condemned by the establishment. just like galileo, the wright brothers, paracelsus, salk, henry ford, the man who discovered viruses responsible for ulcers....every great innovator was a quack, till the discovery was found to be true...then, they're a genius...coming from a bunch who parrot the status quo, being called a genius by those 'peers' is like putting lipstick on a pig. quacks all.
Whenever people ask me, 'hey, you know what you should do? I always say 'What? Buy a monkey?'
Agreed ;)
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth." - Albert Einstein
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