More Evidence Found for Flowing Water on Mars
Scientists have long debated whether water flowed on the red planet, with evidence increasing in recent years. The presence of water would raise the possibility of at least primitive life forms existing there.
Images from a camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show alternating layers of dark- and light-toned rock in a giant rift valley.
Within those deposits are a series of linear fractures, called joints, that are surrounded by “halos” of light-toned bedrock, according to researchers from the University of Arizona.
Their findings, published in Thursday’s edition of the journal Science, were being presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco.
Lead author Chris H. Okubo said the “halos” indicate areas where fluids, probably water, passed through the bedrock. Minerals in the fluid strengthen and bleach the rock, he said, making it more resistant to erosion than other areas.