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Topic Name: Lava may have buried signs of Mars water
Category: STAR (Space, Telecommunications & Radioscience)
Research persons: Dr. Alfred S. McEwen, Dr Maria Zuber, Dr McEwen
Location: University of Arizona , Tucson, AZ 85721, United States
Details
Dramatic features of the Martian landscape that appear to have experienced
catastrophic flooding may have been covered over by lava flows, new research
suggests. This could make it much harder for future landing missions to analyse
the evidence for past water on the Red Planet.
The finding is one of several new reports resulting from more than three
months of high-resolution surveys by the new Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter spacecraft, which went into
orbit around the planet in March 2006.
Among the areas examined in detail is a valley system called
Athabasca Valles,
which has long been interpreted as having been carved out by sudden,
catastrophic flooding. The new images show the entire region seems to be covered
by a few metres of lava.
Team member Alfred McEwen of the University
of Arizona in Tucson, US, still thinks the valley system was created by
flowing water. But he says future robotic missions to Mars will probably not be
able to investigate the water's effects on the surface there.
Other MRO observations also suggest it will be difficult to interpret the
role water has played on the
surface of
Mars. For example, the planet's extremely flat northern plains, interpreted
by many as the remaining basin of an ancient ocean, does not seem to be covered
by a deep layer of fine sediments as some had thought.
Instead, it is strewn by large boulders that according to one theoretical
model should have been buried under layers of sediment long ago if the ocean had
been deep, long-lived and turbulent.
Buried clues
But McEwen says that model might be wrong and that it is still possible that
an ocean covered the region. "There are lots of other concepts of Mars oceans
and how they formed," he told New Scientist. "Who knows how much evidence of
oceans is buried under lava?"
Maria Zuber at MIT in
Cambridge, US, says there is still "plenty of evidence" that water played a
role in the planet's past and that large quantities of it remain in the poles
and frozen in the ground. The new observations just suggest that in some places,
"whatever was there has been covered up by volcanism", she told New Scientist.
Lava has previously thwarted scientists trying to study
Gusev crater, where the rover
Spirit landed in January 2004. Although all the evidence gathered from
orbital images suggested Gusev had been an ancient lake, filled by water from
channels seen entering the crater, the lander found mostly just beds of lava,
which may overlie earlier lake deposits.
Meanwhile, Zuber and her colleagues were able to use the MRO data to
determine that the planet's southern polar ice cap contains the largest
reservoir of surface water in the inner solar system outside of Earth.
About Researchers:
Dr. Alfred S. McEwen
Professor
Planetary Geology
Ph.D., 1988, Arizona State University
Contact:
Lunar and Planetary Lab
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
Office: Space Sciences 429
Phone: (520) 621-4573
Email: mcewen
Dr
Maria Zuber
Dr McEwen
Important Notes:
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a multipurpose spacecraft
designed to conduct reconnaissance and exploration of Mars from orbit. The $720
million USD spacecraft was built by Lockheed Martin under the supervision of the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It was launched August 12, 2005, and attained Martian
orbit on March 10, 2006. It finished aerobraking, entered its final science
orbit and began its primary science phase in November 2006.
MRO contains a host of scientific instruments such as cameras, spectrometers,
and radar, which are used to analyze the landforms, stratigraphy, minerals, and
ice of Mars. It paves the way for future spacecraft by monitoring daily weather
and surface conditions, studying potential landing sites, and testing a new
telecommunications system. MRO's telecommunications system will transfer more
data back to Earth than all previous interplanetary missions combined, and MRO
will serve as a highly capable relay satellite for future missions.
MRO joined five other spacecraft studying Mars: Mars Global Surveyor, Mars
Express, Mars Odyssey, and two Mars Exploration Rovers.
Related Online Links:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/news/mro-20070207.html
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/mro_tech_041013.html
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/03/10/mars.orbiter/index.html
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5845/1709
https://secure.mars.asu.edu/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=17
 
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