Evidence of a Planet-Wide Groundwater System On Mars
Is there lakes on Mars?
Not exactly proper English for a remake of David Bowie’s classic song, but in this case the answer is “Yes” … or at least “Yes, at one time.”
For the first time ever, researchers have found solid evidence of large liquid lakes on Mars that were interconnected and possibly teeming with life. Cavemen, sailors and lawmen?
Only a hands-on look at this geological evidence will answer that question. Elon?
“Early Mars was a watery world, but as the planet’s climate changed this water retreated below the surface to form pools and ‘groundwater. We traced this water in our study, as its scale and role is a matter of debate, and we found the first geological evidence of a planet-wide groundwater system on Mars.”
As University of Utrecht planetary geologist Francesco Salese explains in his new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, credit for this fantastic discovery goes to the three-camera team of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on the ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, and NASA’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and the Context Camera onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
All of that observational equipment was aimed at 24 deep, enclosed craters in the northern hemisphere of Mars. At a depth of 4,000 meters, which the study defines as 4,000 meters below an arbitrary Martian sea level, nearly all of the craters showed similar evidence that could only be attributed to water.
Mars Express
“Features include channels etched into crater walls, valleys carved out by sapping groundwater, dark, curved deltas thought to have formed as water levels rose and fell, ridged terraces within crater walls formed by standing water, and fan-shaped deposits of sediment associated with flowing water. The water level aligns with the proposed shorelines of a putative martian ocean thought to have existed on Mars between three and four billion years ago.”
Based on this commonality in the majority of the craters, co-author Gian Gabriele Ori, director of the Università D’Annunzio’s International Research School of Planetary Sciences in Italy, believes these underground lakes connected Martian oceans which stretched across the planet 3.5 billion years ago.
Because of Marian climate change, this water eventually went underground where it’s possible that it could still exist in pockets of ice. Will that ice or the soil around it contain evidence of Martian life?
“The team also spotted signs of minerals within five of the craters that are linked to the emergence of life on Earth: various clays, carbonates, and silicates. The finding adds weight to the idea that these basins on Mars may once have had the ingredients to host life. Moreover, they were the only basins deep enough to intersect with the water-saturated part of Mars’ crust for long periods of time, with evidence perhaps still buried in the sediments today.”
If there was water …
That’s a qualified ‘yes’, which means thirsty Martian explorers may want to avoid drinking from any water fountains or wells as they traverse the Red Planet. In fact, the discovery highlights the importance of unmanned expeditions in general, as Dmitri Titov, ESA’s Mars Express project scientist, explained in the press release. (Charts and photos here and here.)
“It is especially exciting that a mission that has been so fruitful at the Red Planet, Mars Express, is now instrumental in helping future missions such as ExoMars explore the planet in a different way. It’s a great example of missions working together with great success.”
Working together in space. If the Mars Express and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter can do it, why not humans from the space-exploring countries as well?
Do we need a Space Force … or more Space Friends?
Read more at mysteriousuniverse.org
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Joseph Olson
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Groundwater infiltration zones are another science HOAX, as 99.9% of all groundwater is elemental byproduct of Earth’s internal fission. This is by high pressure, high temperature molecular joining of fission daughter Hydrogen and Oxygen, or distillation from high heat of mantle compounds.
“Earth’s Missing Geothermal Flux” > FauxScienceSlayer
There is no limit on elitist directed lies about reality
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jerry krause
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Hi Joe,
I will follow the lead of Gerald Coller (another article) and ask: Are you stating that the source of water I see flowing out rocks so that a couple hundred yards downstream is a flow about 12 feet wide and 12 inches deep is not the water of the rain or snow which had fallen hundreds, or even thousands, of miles, away?
Have a good day, Jerry
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Joseph Olson
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World’s Deepest Bore Hole, KOLA encountered free water at 40,000 feet deep, at +350°F and over 100 atmospheres pressure. Last winter I sat in hot springs, Mount Princeton, less than 1,000 feet below frozen summit, on the continental divide. There were NO recharge zones above these fast flowing, 140°F springs.
“Volcanic CO2” > Timothy Casey > Geologist 1011
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jerry krause
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Hi Joe,
I have followed up on what you wrote and found:
Mount Princeton rises dramatically from the upper Arkansas River valley, its 14,204-foot summit a stately sentinel over the land below. The mountain is one of a dozen fourteneers – mountains over 14,000 feet tall – found in Chaffee County. One of Mount Princeton’s most striking geologic features are the Chalk Cliffs, sheer walls of white-gray rock that contrast with surrounding forests on the mountain’s southeast slopes. The cliffs do indeed appear to be made of chalk. However, they are actually comprised of kaolinite, a soft, chalk-like rock formed as hot springs carry heated water through faults in the mountain. Today, 65 million years after the Sawatch Range was formed, hot springs continue to flow from the mountain, soothing visitors who travel near and far to enjoy the healing waters. (https://mtprinceton.com/colorado/mt-princeton/)
We [Mount Princeton Hot Springs Resort] are located in Nathrop, Colorado at an elevation 8,250 feet above sea level.
And I have read the history (https://mtprinceton.com/history/) of this resort and it seems likely that this must the hot springs to which you referred. Except, it seems this resort’s hot springs are not less than 1,000 feet below the frozen summit of Mt. Princeton.
So would you please clarify this inconsistency in this information I found on the internet. As I do not believe everything I read there.
Have a good day, Jerry
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