Posted on 09/27/2012 1:08:05 PM PDT by blam
Mars Was Once Covered In Hip-Deep Flowing Water
Jennifer Welsh
September 27,2012
The Curiosity rover's science team has come to a consensus: There was once a large amount of flowing water in Gale Crater. They can't say when, or for how long, but based on the types, shapes and sizes of rocks they've been seeing, they can say, finally, there was flowing water on Mars.
We aren't talking about a small amount of water either: The stream running from a canyon in Mount Sharpe called Peace Vallis could have been up to hip deep. The water eroded jagged rocks into smooth stones and deposited them in a fan shape across the floor of Gale Crater, Curiosity's landing site.
The team has examined rock outcroppings from three areas along the rover's path, all of which indicate that water had eroded rocks into gravel, then deposited them in layers. These layers cemented together forming what's called a conglomerate rock, similar to a rough cement.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity first spotted these conglomerate rocks at her landing site, Bradbury Landing, where her thrusters blew away a top layer of dust from the surface of the Red Planet. This image has been white balanced to look more like it would on Earth.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The second instance of conglomerate rock is here, at an outcropping named Link. This image was taken Sept. 2, and has been enhanced to show how it would look under Earth lighting conditions.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UofA
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS and PSI
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(I deleted most of the article so that I could post all the pictures presented. Click to the site for the entire article.)
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
It does look like river rock in those bottom photos.
If they sent that rover to DC, a much shorter and less expensive trip they would find that the District is covered with at least 5 feet of flowing excrement. And its getting deeper every day! JMHO!
I'm always nervous about science and consensus in same sentence.
“Mars Was Once Covered In Hip-Deep Flowing Water”
Obviously, someone from Los Angeles stole it all.
It does look like river gravel. I really liked the orbital photo of the aluvial fan coming out of the creek. However, it appears that there are several meteor impact craters in the area that are more recent than the hydrological activity. That tells me that the flowing water ceased many millions, if not over a billion, years ago.
All those Martians and their SUVs caused the Global Warming that evaporated all that water...............................
I remember thinking, the day they landed on the moon, that by the time I was in my forties we’d be on Mars. I was in my teens then.
Now I’m pretty sure I won’t live to see it.
Still, this stuff is exciting to me.
Too bad they didn’t have Al Gore (Sarcasm)
Thank you for posting the photos.
I’m saving the article.
yes, the stuff on the lower left looks like typical Earth gravel
wow......
What are the chances that they would land in a spot where those particular rock formations were visible on the surface? Talk about a lucky breccia!
“I remember thinking, the day they landed on the moon, that by the time I was in my forties we’d be on Mars. I was in my teens then.”
I was thinking we’d have flying cars. I want my damn flying car!
Anybody can see this is gravel and concrete. Mars my A$$.
Incredible pics. Nicely done post.
At least we found a good supply of rocks.
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