Thursday, 4 August 2011

Mars has seasonal salt water flows?

'Dark, finger-like features appear and extend down some Martian slopes during late spring through summer, fade in winter, and return during the next spring. Repeated observations have tracked the seasonal changes ...  on several steep slopes'. "The best explanation for these observations so far is the flow of briny water," said Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona. 'The settings are too warm for carbon-dioxide frost and, at some sites, too cold for pure water. This suggests the action of brines, which have lower freezing points'.
Story at Science Daily News.
Warm-Season Flows on Slope in Newton Crater(Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona)

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