Water oceans on mars?, Images of different water oceans on mars based on MGS MOLA instrument. Options

[Guest_Magnus Lundstedt_*]

I have just completed a fun little afternoon project. I have long been looking for what an ocean on mars would look like for different amounts of water - preferably with a movie for many different ocean heights. So after not finding it ever, I did it myself today:

http://magnus.infidyne.com/mars/water/

[Guest_Richard Trigaux_*]

There are still many things strange and unknown about water on Mars.

For instance, if you look at Google mars you notice that huge surges of water (or at least liquid) created hyper large flow channels leading from Tharsis dome to the northern plains. The springs of these water flow are graben-like hollows which are Vales marineris itself, of parallel to it. It is really ununderstandable, it is as if there was a huge eruption of water from underground, associated with major geological features. Could magma chambers differentiate to such an extent that they contain only water? All along the southern plateau, flow marks gather water which apparently rained over this plateau, for instance Maadim Vallis, which filled the Gusev crater (Spirit landed on this filling). Other flow marks lead to Helas basin, but were apparently unable to fill it with sediments.


So whatever how this happened, it is clear that Mars, usually very dry, experienced brief episodes of flooding, and thus free liquid water on its surface, and thus a temporary atmosphere of steam. Could such an atmosphere lock Mars in a state of greenhouse heated planet? Perhaps yes, but obviously this did not happened. So in a matter of weeks, or even days, the free water was covered with ice, and likely froze to the heart in some years. Maybe this frozen ocean is still there, in the northern plains, covered with a layer of dust which prevents it from sublimating.

And steam in the atmosphere? Likely most of its molecules are broken by UV light, and hydrogen escapes. The reminder forms oxygen and hydrogen peroxyde, which are still present in Mars atmosphere today. Such an oxydizing atmosphere is the responsible of the reddish colour of Mars (by oxydizing iron).