June 4, 2007, HiRISE release |
June 4, 2007, HiRISE release |
Jun 4 2007, 06:48 PM
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 3242 Joined: 11-February 04 From: Tucson, AZ Member No.: 23 |
A couple of new color images were released today by the HiRISE team, including a looking at landslides along the Zunil crater rim and gas springs in the warming Southern Polar Cap. The Zunil view looks especially interesting (and I am not just saying that because my advisor has done a lot of work on that fresh impact crater). I think I will download that one.
Recent Landslide in Zunil Crater PSP_001764_1880 http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_001764_1880 Spring Colors on the Southern Polar Cap on Mars PSP_003734_0950 http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_003734_0950 -------------------- &@^^!% Jim! I'm a geologist, not a physicist!
The Gish Bar Times - A Blog all about Jupiter's Moon Io |
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Jun 5 2007, 05:39 PM
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
Now that we have all experienced the new browser.....
...am I the only one here blown away by the dendritic patterns in Spring Colors on the Southern Polar Cap on Mars PSP_003734_0950 and the implications? These are not something analagous to mud cracks. The continuous channels are evidence of flowing liquids, and the dearth of craters within implies recent and regular erosion. I can't imagine any other process. This is way cool. -------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Jun 5 2007, 07:16 PM
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Dublin Correspondent Group: Admin Posts: 1799 Joined: 28-March 05 From: Celbridge, Ireland Member No.: 220 |
Don't know that we can assume liquid activity - there is certainly some pretty dynamic fluid activity going on but the CO2 would either be freezing out or subliming and not going through a freeze\thaw cycle.
Even in mid SH summer the local temperature in these spots is below -100C so I don't think there is even the proverbial snowball's chance in hell that there could be liquid water involved. |
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Jun 5 2007, 08:00 PM
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
Even in mid SH summer the local temperature in these spots is below -100C so I don't think there is even the proverbial snowball's chance in hell that there could be liquid water involved. Well that's why I am marvelling at these images. Those gullies just HAVE TO BE created by liquid (notice I didn't mention "water" above). I have no idea what liquid, but man those cracks are contiguous far longer than random chance would allow. -------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Jun 5 2007, 08:22 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
[quote name='ElkGroveDan' date='Jun 5 2007, 09:00 PM' post='91641']
Those gullies just HAVE TO BE created by liquid /quote] I don't see why. What's wrong with the erosion by trapped gas that they propose in the image caption? It's certainly an exotic process, but I'd say more believable than liquid in this context. |
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Jun 5 2007, 08:46 PM
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
I guess I have a hard time picturing "trapped gas" flowing and eroding in a manner identical to that of a liquid. Call it geologic intuition.
-------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Jun 5 2007, 09:44 PM
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Dublin Correspondent Group: Admin Posts: 1799 Joined: 28-March 05 From: Celbridge, Ireland Member No.: 220 |
I don't think that it's trapped gas so much as explosively sublimating gas - possibly leading to some sort of cascading\avalanche effect that then leads to these totally alien formations.
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Jun 6 2007, 08:00 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
I think these channels only resemble dendritic channels in their forms. In fact, many of them define the boundaries of polygonally fractured dry-ice surficial plates, a patterning not normally noted in dendritic channel formation.
-the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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