Paper: Spectral Evidence for Liquid Water on Mars, LPSC 2011, Renno and Mehta Options

[marsbug]

HiRISE strikes again on the looking for water front: LPSC 2011, spectral evidence for liquid water on Mars.

[Drkskywxlt]

HiRISE strikes again on the looking for water front: LPSC 2011, spectral evidence for liquid water on Mars.

Alfred McEwan stood up during that talk to specifically say that he, speaking for the HIRISE team, does NOT agree with their conclusions.

[schaffman]

Alfred McEwan stood up during that talk to specifically say that he, speaking for the HIRISE team, does NOT agree with their conclusions.

One thing the abstract doesn't overtly mention is that the area showing the purported location of the spectral signals for brines (Fig. 2) is located in the crater Richardson, near the south pole. The abstract just says "polar region." The discussion of the Phoenix results at the beginning leads one to conclude the authors are talking about the north polar region. The elevations around Richardson crater are about 1 km above datum in contrast to the several km below datum for the north polar region. It seems to me that the lower atmospheric pressures in the south polar regions make these locations a less likely place for liquid brines than in the north. No?

Tom