Possible pond found on Mars!

marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov...

Very interesting....though why didn't they release the color picture?

It does look like a muddy area with ripples running across the top of water.

It is a good picture Ferretman2, but it looks more like sand to me:

There's looks to be a lot of very close ripples in the image you link to and they don't look as flat as might be expected.

Jak

Wind blown sand. I dont see the pond or fluid movement other then that of fine sand particles, which is quite abundant on Mars.

The most distinctive difference in aeolian and lacustrine formed ripples would be symmetry.

A wind-formed ripple like a dune will have a stoss-side and lee-side; basically a side that is long and dragged out, and a side that is steep.

A pond would form (most likely) ripples that were symmetric and so there is not the dichotomy spoken of before.

Just so in the future you won't be claiming a sinuous-wind driven ripple is "distinctive of a pond"...gah.

Don't flame my ignorance of Mars, but isnt it a bit cold for water to be in liquid form?

Liquid water can't exist in abundance on the martian surface. The only place liquid water exists on the surface is in minute amounts around the edge of underground ice sheets.

mmmgroup.altervista.org...

Go to the last but two pictures. Theres your surface water on mars - In abundance.

We only have Nasa's say so about the atmosphere, temperature and the like on mars.

These pictures are of water on the surface in resonably large quantaties.

I believe that there is life on Mars. I don't think it's anything we can see from the surface. There are a few threads on this I'm sure, so I won't get too into it. But I must make this point. If life existed anywhere else in the universe, it most likely wouldn't be anything we're familiar with. And those "trees" may not survive off of water, but sand, or rocks, or some other material found in Martian soil. You can't immediately attribute qualities of Earth flora/fauna to alien worlds.

Originally posted by DaFunk13
Don't flame my ignorance of Mars, but isnt it a bit cold for water to be in liquid form?

In the equitorial zones, the surface temperature of Mars averages at 15c, so liquid water could indeed exist, temperature wise. However, due to the low air pressure on Mars, it would be difficult to find any large amounts of liquid water, even in the warm regions.

The atmospheric pressure on Mars is just a bit below the triple-point pressure. That's why the textbooks all say liquid water is unstable on the surface of Mars. Any liquid water will rapidly evaporate and the rest, cooled by evaporation, will freeze. Low spots on Mars may have pressures above the triple-point pressure, but are usually far too cold. Even if you did somehow get above 0 C on Mars and into the liquid field, you're so close to the vapor curve that water would rapidly evaporate. Even solid ice would quickly sublimate on Mars except in the very coldest areas.

Source

Thanks for learnin me!!!

It sounds like there is still a pretty good chance that there is life on Mars.

I hope so.

Originally posted by DaFunk13
Thanks for learnin me!!!

It sounds like there is still a pretty good chance that there is life on Mars.

I hope so.

I still find it really cool that in some places all you would really need is a O2 supply and a light jacket.

Originally posted by MadGreebo
mmmgroup.altervista.org...

Go to the last but two pictures. Theres your surface water on mars - In abundance.

We only have Nasa's say so about the atmosphere, temperature and the like on mars.

These pictures are of water on the surface in resonably large quantaties.

why was this not blown up all over the news?

Any nasa links to these pictures?

Dont you guys think that the slope of the hill would prevent ponding water in this situation? The grade is sloping, and even if it is subtle, it would cause the water to either run...or eventually evaporate. Since the water would be there in this case, and would not have evaporated, then there would have to be a supply. A constant suplly of water would create a cavity...... Erosion. There is no erosion. Anywhere.

See what you want to I guess.

Originally posted by MadGreebo

These pictures are of water on the surface in resonably large quantaties.

The photos look more like two different types of ices.

That website you posted with the 2 pictures....sheesh. Got to be kidding me. Trees? Lakes? Nope, sorry...the lakes are just fine sand, the trees are not trees. most lilely rock formations. That website is a piece of something all right. People just have to do a little of their own research instead of just believeing every little thing they read on a website.

since when does the wind blow on a planet where there is low gravity coupled with no air of anykind. breakage points. The way gravity would work on creating something like that would be more of settling it mainly flat. You can try an expirement yourself. take some sand and a hair dryer, use the dryer on the sand until you get the ripple effect. now take the other sand and put it in a box now as you are using the hair dryer toss the box up enough so the sand is like falling as it would if there was any solar winds or the like moving it on mars. as you will see when it settles it will still be moving and will settle out flatish. with the occasional bump here and there. now look at the difference between that and the picture of mars that you put on here.

MOD EDIT: Please refrain from posting crude comments about other members.

[edit on 4/6/2006 by cmdrkeenkid]

Originally posted by sardion2000


I still find it really cool that in some places all you would really need is a O2 supply and a light jacket.

Yeah its strange to think that the warmest days on Mars are way way warmer then the coldest weather on Earth. Coldest on earth was a chilly
-89.2 °C at Vostok, Antarctica I think.

Thats why I really think it may be possible some day to make mars earth like with teraforming. It would be a huge feat and require something we here on earth havent proven to be that skilled at yet "balancing a entire ecosystem" But not impossible IMO

Yeah, well, thats probably not a pond or even a puddle of water, but I'm pretty sure we found one lake already...iced over, in a crater.

Originally posted by sardion2000

Originally posted by DaFunk13
Thanks for learnin me!!!

It sounds like there is still a pretty good chance that there is life on Mars.

I hope so.

I still find it really cool that in some places all you would really need is a O2 supply and a light jacket.

And maybe a pressure suit, if you don't want all your blood to bubble out nitrogen and kill you. Little details can be important.

Originally posted by handofdespair
since when does the wind blow on a planet where there is low gravity coupled with no air of anykind. breakage points.

So I guess all the dust storms on mars and the dust devils captured on camera by the rovers are a figment of everyone's imagination?

Of course there is wind on Mars.