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Mars May Be Dry After All
BillC writes "Boston Globe reports that all the Martian features which looked like water just under the surface might merely be the land features left behind when glaciers retreated thousands or millions of years ago."
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"Millions of disgusted viewers report that all the narrative features which looked like talent or good plot just under the surface might merely be the crap left behind when hollywood writing talent retreated thousands or millions of years ago."
My local Wal-Mart is selling a product called Martian Mud. Since one half of the recipe calls for water (I'm assuming Martian water), there is no doubt that Mars has an ample supply. After all, Sam Walton wouldn't get involved in a venture of limited cash making capacity. And we all know that Sam was an honorable man, and that he wouldn't be trying to pull the wool over our collective eyes.
As to Earths water leaving the planet, I would say yes, it does, but only in very small amounts.There are water molecules present in the air all around us. The average velocity of any given molecule of air is ~330 metres/sec, the speed of sound. However, this is only the average. The velocities follow a standard distribution or Bell curve. Therefore an incredibly small number of molecules will attain escape velocity, and some of these molecules will be water molecules. If the altitude is high enough, the water molecule will be able to escape from the Earths gravity well entirely. This is why the moon cannot sustain an atmosphere - a small (but larger than Earths) proportion of the moons atmosphere would escape, and after a few million years it would be left with nothing.
The only other mechanism I can think of is through meteorite impact. Fragments of rock which contain embedded water could be hurled into space from such an impact. I doubt that water or Ice could do it by itself, due to boiling and mixing with the rest of the atmosphere.
Overall, then, bugger all water gets off Earth (or Mars), but a small teeny tiny bit does.
The water Mars once had is, for the most part, underneath the surface, much like permafrost. Frozen ice isn't much different from rock in a sense, it just gets churned up with all the other solids. However, because it is less dense, it does tend to stay towards the surface.
KTB:Lover, Poet, Artiste, Aesthete, Programmer.
There is no
Mars has no magnetic field, therefore no protection in the atmosphere from solar radiation that will take a water vapor molecule, make that molecule it's bitch, and split it wide open into oxygen and hydrogen, the hydrogen floats into space, and the oxygen combines with iron in the soil to make iron oxide, giving the planet it's rich amber hue.
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
Does Guinness know about this?
Looks around nervously...am I allowed to say that? Please don't sue me!
--meredith
--meredith
Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis