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A Third of Mars Could Have Been Underwater

Posted by timothy on from the younger-hotter-ocean-that-is dept.

Matt_dk writes "An international team of scientists who analyzed data from the Gamma Ray Spectrometer onboard NASA's Mars Odyssey reports new evidence for the controversial idea that oceans once covered about a third of ancient Mars. 'We compared Gamma Ray Spectrometer data on potassium, thorium and iron above and below a shoreline believed to mark an ancient ocean that covered a third of Mars' surface, and an inner shoreline believed to mark a younger, smaller ocean.'"

3 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. To prove it... by FungusCannon · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's gonna be a pain in the ass to get one of those rovers up to 88 miles per hour.

  2. Potassium Salts by praedictus · · Score: 5, Informative

    Makes some sense to see potassium anomalies in the old basins if there was water there which has since been evaporated, with the concentration increasing toward the centres, as potassium salts are somewhat more soluble than their sodium equivalents, theyd be the last left to precipitate out. Thorium on the other hand is usually residual, at least here on Earth, and tends to concentrate along shorelines and riverbeds due its high density and low solubility.

    --
    Watashi wa chikyubutsurigakusha desu.
  3. Why controversial? by Tacubaruba · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Haven't we gotten past the point where the idea of Mars once having lots of water is controversial? I mean, it seems as if every new piece of evidence points in that direction, so what exactly still makes it controversial?