Weird Shadows on Mars!!! What Are They??

reply to post by zorgon


they look like dirt devils to me. I used to live in china lake (military brat) and saw them all the time. It is odd that there are so many though.

Here are a couple of HiRISE images of icy Martian dunes that contain those mysterious dark streaks in the south polar region.








Images Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UofA/HiRISE

The frost is likely an accumulation of frozen water and carbon dioxide ice. But the small, dark streaks might have resulted from avalanches of sand or patches of coarse-grained ice clear enough for the dark material below the ice to become visible. The streaks, running thousands of feet long, follow the local topographical patterns of the Martian landscape and do not appear to have a chaotic pattern of distribution.

They are likely related to the dark spots scattered throughout the image, which could have resulted from ice evaporation leaving behind dust formerly contained in the ice.

Cheers!

frankslog.com...

Big Thanks to Zorgon, Internos, ArMaP & Mike Singh on this thread. Highly Intriguing Stuff!

Though it's true that there may be differing opinions on what we see in the many Mars images, I think everyone can agree on one fundamental fact...

Mars is truly an Amazing and Alien place!

Nice work Guys!

IRM

reply to post by mikesingh


I don't think those are exactly the same thing as the "shadows" (for lack of a better name).

One reason is the place, these are near the pole while the others are near the equator. Another reason is that these leave a different mark when they disappear.

I think it's an extreme example of outgassing on whole fields.Remember that most of Mars is dark material under a very thin layer of orange/salmon/ocre,whatever colors of sand.It's unlike earth in that respect,so while outgassing occurs the native underlying darker soil(carbon) which has caked over the holes is blown out and colors/darkens like jets,the surrounding light layer of beachy sandy thin top "decorative" layer.Take away that powdery layer of lightest material(rising to the top)and you have Mars looking like a black bowling ball. That's not to say that the ejecta isn't pure charcoal black for some reason.I guess this outgassing would be strongest when (seasonally)heating activates it stronger.Daily like old faithful I wonder? But also gravitational pull from sun and planetary allignments could have an occasional effect. Venting gas may explain the seasonal changes Lowell and followers reported as darkening ,shifting bands over the surface.Just decorative(I'm joking). Live shows Thurs nights from Minneapolis,Minn.

Originally posted by mikesingh
Here are a couple of HiRISE images of icy Martian dunes that contain those mysterious dark streaks in the south polar region.

Dust huh? Interesting that they are so black, when the rest of Mars the dust is so Red

But I have GOT to say it...

We always get the "Rorschach inkblot test" thrown at us whenever we see something in the images...

But... errmmm THESE LOOK LIKE INK BLOTS.. Just blobs with splatters

Originally posted by mikesingh
Here are a couple of HiRISE images of icy Martian dunes that contain those mysterious dark streaks in the south polar region.

Images Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UofA/HiRISE

The frost is likely an accumulation of frozen water and carbon dioxide ice. But the small, dark streaks might have resulted from avalanches of sand or patches of coarse-grained ice clear enough for the dark material below the ice to become visible. The streaks, running thousands of feet long, follow the local topographical patterns of the Martian landscape and do not appear to have a chaotic pattern of distribution.

They are likely related to the dark spots scattered throughout the image, which could have resulted from ice evaporation leaving behind dust formerly contained in the ice.

Cheers!

frankslog.com...

Wow.. Rorschach test.. to me it says.. OIL!

reply to post by zorgon


I absolutely agree. I was thinking the same thing a few days ago. About how the sand would be so black when all of the planet is so red?

Isn't there an overall consensus that Mars did sustain simple life forms at some point, before it lost its atmosphere? Isn't simple lifeforms all that is needed to produce fossil fuel like oil? Then it is not so impossible is it?

Originally posted by Lebowski achiever
Wow.. Rorschach test.. to me it says.. OIL!

They sure look more liquid then dust...

I need to find a picture... I drove through Ca a while back and there was an area that had little rivers of oil flowing ... I want to find an aerial of that area... there were no plants around only pipes and oils seeping out of the ground

Looked like a scene from another planet.. I will find it Need to trace my route on a map

[edit on 1-9-2008 by zorgon]

When I lived in Nevada you could go out at dusk or dawn and see all kinds of weird stuff on the mountains. The lack of trees alone makes some weird shadows from clouds and rocks. If you have not slept in a day or more.....Believe me your mind can make some weird stuff out of those shadows.

reply to post by zorgon

Could it be the black smoke?

The reason why NASA doesn't want to land any Rovers in such intriguing areas is because there's more than meets the eye and they probably don't want to let the cat out of the bag!

Because it looks like OIL!! The surface of Mars could be floating over seas of oil. The black streaks could be due to the oil seeping out from the surface due to high pressure.



Cheers!

FAKES. I believe there was life on Mars, a lot of it at one time. The ruines are plenty of evidence, however, the person who photo shopped these pictures are not very good. See, the black images rising up from the sands are supposed to represent some sort of objects, but the shadows they cast do not match the objects they are supposed to be cast from. Look hard at the objects then the shadows. They don't line up. The leveling from a shadow cast from an object are way off, and the numbers of shadows cast from the objects ore some time more then the objects. I have genius pattern recognition, though I am off mentally in other areas :[, a child could notice they are fakes. Nice try, just next time pay attention to your shadowing effects.

Originally posted by TXMACHINEGUNDLR
Believe me your mind can make some weird stuff out of those shadows.

If you look at those shadows in Nevada with military grade night glasses... more than your mind will be boggled

Originally posted by o22a6ar
Could it be the black smoke?

As in soot or ash?? Possibly.. but no sign of volcanoes in that area... and Mikes look more like blobs of a heavy liquid... The streaks some definitely look more like a plume than an avalanche

Especially this one... It starts from a very small point and then expands... if it was a rock fall, it seems there is not enough material at the start point to make such a wide fan with rounded lobes at the end

I discovered an interesting article today on a norwegian website called Oilinfo.no. Before you read it, you should know that the city Stavanger is THE oil/petroleum industry city in Norway:

May 9, 2008: NASA wants Stavanger to join the space program "Constellation" The program aims at sending humans to Mars.

The invitation came from NASA Director of Technolgy Transfer Office at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Michelle Brekke, during the Stavanger Regionen Næringsutviklings (the Stavanger region business development's) visit at the center wednesday.

- Previously NASA developed and patented all the technology, and later let private companies use them commersially. Now we prefer groundbreaking partnerhips with business companies, because we know that we can not invent everything ourselves, Brekke told the delegation from Stavanger.

Then she praised the scientific community and energy industry in the city, and mentiond several excamples of developments in the region which are useful in the exploration of space.

- Much of what you have made for harsh environments and for "down the hole" technology can be used and implemented by us, she said.

Director Brekke's words were flattering, but the earlier Mission Control leader pointed out that this was a very direct inquiry. To underline how serious she was, she reminded about the paper the delegates were given when they arrived. Most of them assumed that is was a copy of her speach but it turned out to be a list of what kinds of contracts NASA can make and what kind of equipment and technology they need.

www.oilinfo.no...

I called the journalist (Bjørn Tore Bjørsvik) who wrote the article, and he told me there will be another meeting with NASA in May 2009. At the moment, it is not yet established which companies who will take part in the space program.

I also phoned Birger Haraldseid, leader of a business development organisation in Stavanger, who was present at the meeting in Houston. He told me that NASA was very spesific about what kind of services they were after. "They obviously had done their homework well before they invited us over to Houston, and knew much about the companies they wanted to talk to", he said.

He also told me that NASA among other things was interested in companies in the petroleum sector, but wouldn't be more spesific until the deals have been made. He also mentioned that NASA was interested in "material technology" (not sure what he meant by that) and techology that could be remote controlled.

I find this information very interesting. Is it possible that NASA already have discovered oil on Mars, and that they now are planning to drill for it?

Then I found another very interesting website called "spaceurope.blogspot". Here I found the following, posted March 16, 2007:

On the 6th Workshop of the European Astrobiology Network Association that took place in Lyon it was presented a topic marking the difference by not trying to “Follow the Water". "Search for oil reservoirs on Mars" was the result of a deep study on the history of Mars, focused on the search for oil on the Red Planet, having into account that oil might be a reserve of organic material for potential life forms.

The topic was presented by the Portuguese Astrobiology Working Group. PAWG is currently studing the 'Mars Exobiological Potential' as part of the MAGIC project (Mars Atmospherical Geophysical and ExobIological Characterisation), financed by the FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) and with the Recognised Cooperating Laboratory status for the Mars Express mission. The group, coordinated by Prof. Maria Eugénia Webb, the Portuguese representative at the European Astrobiology Network Association.
...
It was on the behalf of the PAG that Susana Direito from the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, kindly answered some spacEurope questions.

- Your research derives from a premise inverse to the one adopted on Earth...it deals with searching oil to find life and no to dizimate it...

- Yes, effectively. It is my oppinion that we must invest more and more on alternatives to the use of oil as fuel.
The search for oil on Mars must be done, exclusively, on a astrobiological and scientific point of view.

- What might the consequences be, for a future exploration of Mars, if studies provide proofs of the existence of oil reservoirs?

- If such happens then the key word will be “caution”. As in other space missions “caution is fundamental, because there will always be a contamination problem.
Every mission being planned will need to be ver well thought.

- Any promising results so far? Are there specific locations as serious candidates?

- It is a very promising hypothesis because a deep study of the planet was undertaken.
The candidate locations are the areas where we can find dark streaks and dark features.
The choice of one of them as a target for a potential mission depends on the technical means available and the terrain caractheristiques.

- You have made reference to the use of MOC and MGS images in your study, could you be more specific and tell us which?

- One example is the following image...

- The dark features you made reference to are not comparable to dune fields such as El Dorado...how is the distinction made?

- The dark slope streaks to which I make reference are as the one in the image example, differencing itself from the surrounding terrain due to its darker tone and appearing like liquid flows.

spaceurope.blogspot.com...

reply to post by ziggystar60


That is interesting, specially (to me) that part about the Portuguese Astrobiology Working Group, I was not aware of its existence.

And the scientists are from an university some 5 kilometres from where I live!

I must see if I can get more information about this.

Originally posted by ArMaP

That is interesting, specially (to me) that part about the Portuguese Astrobiology Working Group, I was not aware of its existence.

And the scientists are from an university some 5 kilometres from where I live!

Too much time on ATS, what?? There's a whole world outside to explore!!

Cheers!

please look what they are doing now? a shadow of ourself innerdoor on mars.yeah that´s great. hope they flying soundly and have good dreams
for us humans. lol