[X] My Assistant

[Guest_AlexBlackwell_*]

Water May Not Have Formed Mars' Recent Gullies
By Lori Stiles
University of Arizona News Services
March 16, 2006

[Guest_paulanderson_*]

While the jury may still be out it seems on recent or current underground liquid water, there is a lot of subsurface ice apparently... see my posting here today with updated MARSIS news (LPSC, New Scientist, Sky & Telescope):

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...view=getnewpost

I still want a good explanation for the "seeps" as well, just as highly debated as the gullies...

[Guest_AlexBlackwell_*]

I still want a good explanation for the "seeps" as well, just as highly debated as the gullies...

I'm not sure the specific distinction you're drawing between "seeps" and "gullies." Just to be clear, though: when I use "seepage sites" and "gullies," I'm referring to the features discovered by Malin and Edgett, which they published in Science.

[Guest_paulanderson_*]

I'm not sure the specific distinction you're drawing between "seeps" and "gullies." Just to be clear, though: when I use "seepage sites" and "gullies," I'm referring to the features discovered by Malin and Edgett, which they published in Science.

Ok, by seeps, as nicknamed by some, I'm referring to the dark "stains" seen (from orbit) running down many crater walls or other cliff faces, distinct from the carved-out gullies. In case anyone here isn't familiar with these, some papers have suggested they are just what they seem to appear to be, short-lived episodes of water "leaking" onto the surface and then evaporating, leaving the "stains" which have been observed to then gradually fade / lighten over time, sometimes with "fresh" ones overlaying old ones. As usual, various papers have postulated various theories...