[meteorite-list] Signs of Ancient Flowing Water on Mars (Mars Express)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 8 May 2012 16:45:58 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201205082345.q48NjwW8026702_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM2RJQWJ1H_index_0.html

Signs of ancient flowing water on Mars
European Space Agency
4 May 2012

ESA's Mars Express has returned images of a region on the Red Planet
that appears to have been sculpted in part by flowing liquid. This again
adds to the growing evidence that Mars had large volumes of water on its
surface in the distant past.
 
On 21 June last year, Mars Express pointed its high-resolution stereo
camera at the western part of Acidalia Planitia, a gigantic basin in the
planet???s northern lowlands, at the interface with Tempe Terra, an older,
higher terrain.

Acidalia Planitia is a region so vast that it can be seen from Earth by
amateur astronomers.

The famous observer Giovanni Schiaparelli named this large dark feature
on his map of Mars after the mythical Acidalian (or Venusian) fountain
in Boeotia, where the three graces of ancient Greek myth bathed.

[Image]
Perspective view of Acidalia Planitia and Tempe Terra
 
The images taken cover part of the western edge of the region, where
some of the numerous valleys descending from Tempe Terra show subtle
evidence for "dendritic" drainage patterns emanating from them.

The word dendritic comes from the Greek for tree and the channels in the
images are believed to have been formed by the surface run-off of
flowing water from rain or melting snow during some distant martian epoch.

The presence of deep valleys, with very few tributaries in the form of
smaller valleys further downstream, shows that the region itself
probably formed by a process called "sapping" or "undermining", which
occurs when erosion along the base of a cliff wears away softer layers
of material.
 
[Image]
3D view of Acidalia Planitia and Tempe Terra
 
Sapping removes support for the upper harder rock which breaks off into
large blocks, and falls from the cliff face.

This way, deep valleys can erode progressively upwards, as can be seen
in the Colorado Plateau on Earth.

The lower-left part of the image appears to be in shadow, but this
darkening is in fact is due to differences in surface material: the
left-hand side is covered with dark sand, probably of volcanic origin,
while the right side is covered with brighter dust.

The images also show faults in the martian crust, extending towards the
Idaeus Fossae region. They are believed to have played a vital role in
releasing water by exposing subsurface reservoirs, possibly forming
lakes in nearby craters.

Apparent sediments covering the floors of some of the older, more eroded
craters are of particular interest for scientists, as they again point
to the existence of surface water at some stage.

In some cases, valleys start at the rim of the craters, suggesting that
water was released from them into the surrounding terrain.

Some newer craters are seen in the central areas of the image. Their
relatively young age is demonstrated by the lack of erosion and the fact
that they lie on top of older features.
 
[Image]
Acidalia Planitia in context
 
These Mars Express images give scientists yet more evidence of a watery
past for the Red Planet, and will help them to decode how the water
ebbed, flowed and eroded the surface at different times.
 

[Image}
Topographical view of Acidalia Planitia
 
 
Received on Tue 08 May 2012 07:45:58 PM PDT