USAToday 12/7/06
Mysterious gullies could be recent flow
by Dan Vegano USA Today
This article has insightly information about the mysterious gullies and evidence that water flowed on Mars very recently.There are still a lot of naysayers but these observations are pretty interesting. They show new crater in the last few years and water like deposits.
(1) New satellite iages show that new gullies (bright patches carved into flowing shapes in the Martian dust) have appeared within two craters
(2) Ken Edgett speaking at NASA with information in the journal Science. In January 2004 image he spotted a crater that hadn't appeared in earlier images (started taking in 1999).
(3) 20 new crarters were spotted in all . This establisged the an estimated rate of about 12 small comet or meteors impact a year on Mars.
(4) The search also found the newer dried out gullies in two craters , both located in middle latitude, between the frozen poles and dry equater (that had higher temperatures).
(5) The gullies likely carried "5 to 10 swimming pools worth of brinywater " down the 20 -30 degree slopes of the craters , Edgett said.
(6) This has changed the thinking about Mars says PLanetary scientist Phil Christensen of Arizona State U .
(7) He added vthat planetary scientists are adebating whether water hides in aquifers , frozen ice or show packs on Mars.
(8) Edgett suggests that the gullies result from groundwater percolating through cracks in the Martian rock around the craters.
(9) Stephen Clifford of the LUnar PLanetary Institutediagresses and says the cold , dry terrain makes it difficult to understand how water could possibly exist close to the surface, hje says.
(10) More spacecraft observation might yield more definitive data.
(11) The team's cratering estimates are in doubt too.Would these be hazardous to future space missions? Probably yes it was said.
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