• Mars' entire surface was shaped by water
    74 replies, posted
[quote="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/science_and_environment/10408113.stm"] The whole of Mars' surface was shaped by liquid water around four billion years ago, say scientists. Signs of liquid water had been seen on southern Mars, but the latest findings reveal similar signals in craters in the north of the Red Planet. The team made their discovery by examining data from instruments on board Europe's Mars Express and Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. They report the findings in the latest issue of the journal Science. John Carter, of the University of Paris, led the team of France- and US-based scientists. "Until now, we had no idea what half Mars was made of in terms of mineral composition," he told BBC News. Continue reading the main story We're seeing signals of what were once river beds, small seas and lakes John Carter University of Paris "Now, with the Esa and Nasa probes, we have been able to get a mixture of images and spectral information about the composition of the rock." He explained that these instruments had revealed clay-type minerals called phyllosilicates - "the stuff you would find in mud and in river beds." "It's not the species of mineral itself that's important," said Dr Carter, "it's more the fact that the minerals contain water. "This enhances the picture of liquid water on Mars." Liquid rock Previously, researchers have seen similar signs of water in the highlands of southern Mars in rocks that are up to four billion years old. But in the northern part of the planet, more recently formed rocks have buried the older geology. The prevailing theory for why this is, is that a giant object slammed into northern Mars, turning nearly half of the planet's surface into the Solar System's largest impact crater. The team found the minerals in craters in the northern part of Mars Dr Carter explained that this meant a thick veneer of younger rock covered the older geology, "so the craters are the only way of accessing the older stuff". But the craters are relatively small and more difficult for the orbiting probes to take measurements from. "There's also ice and dust coverage in the north of the planet, making it harder to get signals from these craters," said Dr Carter. The new findings suggest that at least part of the wet period on Mars, that could have been favourable to life, extended into the time between that giant impact and when volcanic and other rocks formed an overlying mantle. This indicates that, 4.2 billion years ago, the planet was probably altered by liquid water on a global scale. But Dr Carter said that the findings did not paint a picture of huge Martian oceans. "It was probably a very dry place," he said. "But we're seeing signals of what were once river beds, small seas and lakes."[/quote] :science:
If venus is earth sister... Mars is earth Brother
Now if we get a giant hose pipe from the Earth to Mars we could create an ocean and live there.
[QUOTE=Rashy;22896743]Now if we get a giant hose pipe from the Earth to Mars we could create an ocean and live there.[/QUOTE] uhhh no you can't.
[QUOTE=BeardyDuck;22896758]uhhh no you can't.[/QUOTE] No shit Sherlock.
well fuck me
[QUOTE=BeardyDuck;22896758]uhhh no you can't.[/QUOTE] listen to this guy he obviously has an astronomy degree
This makes me think that Earth will turn into Mars in the future.
inb4 public goes "derp, this mean there are alinz on marz and comin to blow us awp!!!!" [highlight](User was banned for this post ("In before" - Benji))[/highlight]
[QUOTE=BeardyDuck;22896758]uhhh no you can't.[/QUOTE] dayum there goes that plan. I know, how about we connect mars to the water grid?
Fucking epic. Oh shtz, this mean there are alinz on marz and comin to blow us awp!!!!
[QUOTE=BeardyDuck;22896758]uhhh no you can't.[/QUOTE] Thanks for that laugh. Rated funny.
This is so cool, I bet if we got some funds to dig holes on Mars we'd find amazing stuff :science:!
Like water and shit
[QUOTE=Adbor;22898666]This is so cool, I bet if we got some funds to dig holes on Mars we'd find amazing stuff :science:![/QUOTE] Like rocks.
derp, this mean there are alinz on marz and comin to blow us awp!!!!
I love rocks! Water's nice too.
I'm pretty sure "The Universe" tv show mentioned that at some point both Mars and Earth were in the habitable zone of the solar system and they looked very much alike, but Mars was unfortunate to move out of the habitable zone and became what it is now.
[QUOTE=Best4bond;22896533]If venus is earth sister... Mars is earth Brother[/QUOTE] Makes sense. Mars also has the best theme also "Mars, Bringer of War."
Do bacteria and other micro-organisms count as alien life if they are on mars?
I like to think of Mars as Earth's gay boyfriend. :)
I have read in my Popular Science Magazine about evidence that life did exist on Mars in the form of bacteria, this article now proves that Mars was once Earth-like. Some time in the future, we humans should be able to terraform Mars by reintroducing water, creating a atmosphere by using Earth's as an example (minus the pollutants), and possibly more if its required.
mars is the small gay mexican lover of earth.
[QUOTE=JJ Webby;22896966]This makes me think that Earth will turn into Mars in the future.[/QUOTE] This makes me think Mars can be turned into Earth in the future
I saw this on the ESA website earlier, but there they mainly focused on the fact that they've found hydrated silicate minerals in the northern lowlands. They never said that the entire surface was shaped by water...
[QUOTE=BCell;22901437]This makes me think Mars can be turned into Earth in the future[/QUOTE] role swap
[QUOTE=Abstrakt;22899763]I like to think of Mars as Earth's gay boyfriend. :)[/QUOTE]Then whats the Moon?
[QUOTE=The mouse;22901740]Then whats the Moon?[/QUOTE] The overly touchy friend.
[QUOTE=BCell;22901437]This makes me think Mars can be turned into Earth in the future[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://i45.tinypic.com/1z4amjc.jpg[/IMG] Hope it becomes like this in the next 100-300 years.
i think mars was an ocean planet, Like mostly all ocean, land was a small part of it.
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