Mars and whether or not there's water there

[Ian]

I heard that the dry riverbeds had some calcium carbonate on them but what carved these rivers in the first place? Some people have rejected the idea that water probably once flowed on the surface of mars millions of years ago because they think that calcium carbonate is on mars. Also what carved out Vallis Marinarius? Was it water, or calcium carbonate?

[Yahweh]

Water on Mars seems likely. What are the odds that on a big ol' planet like that, a mess of oxygens and 2 messes of hydrogens wont come together in a violent reaction forming water.

Heres an article from Space.com (http://web.ask.com/redir?bpg=http%3a%2f%2fweb.ask.com%2fweb%3fq%3dis% 2bthere%2bwater%2bon%2bmars%26o%3d0%26page%3d1&q=is+there+water+on+mars&u=http%3a%2f%2ftm.wc.ask.com%2fr%3ft%3dan%26s%3da% 26uid%3d2ac8d138eac8d138e%26sid%3d3ac8d138eac8d138 e%26qid%3d7C0A62737C6C6642BE07CFEA5636EF22%26io%3d 0%26sv%3dza5cb0ddb%26ask%3dis%2bthere%2bwater%2bon %2bmars%26uip%3dac8d138e%26en%3dte%26eo%3d-100%26pt%3dNASA%2bannounces%2bdiscovery%2bof%2bevi dence%2bof%2bwater%2bon%2bMars%26ac%3d8%26qs%3d0%2 6pg%3d1%26u%3dhttp%3a%2f%2fwww.space.com%2fscience astronomy%2fsolarsystem%2fmars_water_000620.html&s=a&bu=http%3a%2f%2fwww.space.com%2fscienceastronomy%2 fsolarsystem%2fmars_water_000620.html).

[Diamond]

As I pointed out on the latest Bob Park thread, whether Mars had oceans in the distant past is open to doubt. That it has features suggestive of water action is not in doubt.

Also not in doubt is that Mars possesses a lot of water in sub-surface soils as found by Mars Odyssey as well as at both poles.

[Ian]

I couldn't go to the space.com article using that weblink.
Is there another one that you can give me?

[Darwin]

New study encourages great skepticism about Mars´s water.

[Diamond]

Originally posted by Ian
I couldn't go to the space.com article using that weblink.
Is there another one that you can give me?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3173167.stm

[BTox]

From what I've read recently the estimates of the total amount of water on mars is enough to cover the entire planet with between 0.5 and 1 kilometer. Yet only a fraction of that amount has been accounted for, the assumption is the remainder exists subsurface.

[Diamond]

Originally posted by BTox
From what I've read recently the estimates of the total amount of water on mars is enough to cover the entire planet with between 0.5 and 1 kilometer. Yet only a fraction of that amount has been accounted for, the assumption is the remainder exists subsurface.

There's lots of it apparently... http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/newsroom/pressreleases/20030724a.html ... see also http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/newsroom/pressreleases/20030626a.html

[BTox]

Originally posted by Diamond


There's lots of it apparently... http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/newsroom/pressreleases/20030724a.html ... see also http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/newsroom/pressreleases/20030626a.html

The article I was reading had those same maps, however it explained that the neutron spectrometer used for that survey only reads to depths of 1 meter or less. In 2005, another survey is planned with a shallow radar instrument to probe to depths of several hundred meters.

[Beausoleil]

Valles Marineris looks most like a graben - kind of like a rift valley related to tension in the crust around the Tharsis bulge, perhaps.

So there's evidence of flash floods associated with it, but it wasn't entirely cut by water.