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There Were Mega-Tsunamis On Mars (popularmechanics.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Popular Mechanics: Today, a team of scientists has announced the first discovery of extraterrestrial tsunamis. A team of astronomers and geologists led by J. Alexis Rodriguez at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona has uncovered evidence of massive tsunamis on Mars billions of years ago. As Rodriguez reports, two separate mega-tsunamis tore across the red planet around 3.4 billion years ago, a time when Mars was a mere 1.1 billion years old and nearby Earth was just cradling its first microbial lifeforms. The two tsunamis created 150-foot-high shore-break waves on average, and some absolutely monster waves up to 400 feet tall. Rodriguez and his colleagues outline their tsunami findings today in the journal Scientific Reports. From the report: "Rodriquez and his colleagues stumbled across evidence of these tsunamis while scouring over images of Mars' relatively flat northern planes. Two regions called Chryse Planitia and Arabia Terra. Using detailed infrared maps rendered by the thermal camera on the 15-year-old Mars Odyssey orbiter, the scientists identified the high water marks of the tsunamis -- features that look a lot like ancient ocean coastlines." Within the last year alone, scientists have spotted the signs of flowing water on Mars, recently discovering how water flows on the red planet. NASA has detected atomic oxygen in the atmosphere of the planet, too.
And Keanu Reeves was the upcoming A-lister in Point Break.
Makes sense really, with 0.38 of Earth gravity, waves are going to be big aren't they?
Every simulated image I see of oceans on Mars shows them as blue. Earth's oceans only turned blue after life poisoned them with free oxygen. Before that they were green from dissolved iron.
Mars was perhaps more Earth-like than Earth was for the first 2 billion or so years, by today's standards.
Earth was a volcanic and tide-driven* mess early on, while Mars' interior was cool enough to have semi-stable land masses and lakes or oceans.
It's why some speculate life first formed on Mars and then was blasted to Earth via meteor strikes. Mars was prime real-estate for life first.
* The moon was closer and Earth rotated faster back then. Faster rotation itself generally stirs up weather.
Table-ized A.I.
well, it's the Crimson (red) planet
I sincerely doubt you can detect evidence of tsunamis 3.4 billion years ago. All the evidence would have washed away and dried up by now.
Slashdong editors, you would get lots more views if you had funny stuff like "goat sex" and "racist" moderations. What do you have to lose? This site's dead and buried anyway!!!
--timmyboy
Here's the real question: We must assume that our solar system is relatively unremarkable (and by all accounts, it is, at least largely). Does this mean that the average solar system would have a planet or two capable of sustaining life? In that case, where are they?
It's almost like the problem is not the scientists at all, but the journalists!
Hur hur i heard there were mega tsunamis on uranus too dude hur hur
:)
...when you're desperate to discover water on Mars, everything looks like a beach.
I have creatinists on my family, so I’m always looking for more simple and direct arguments about the age of the universe. SN1987A is one example.
So, if there were tsunamis on Mars, that means there was lots of water at one point, so
- How conclusive is it that the observed features had to be caused by water?
- What is the minimum amount of water necessary to have caused these features?
- Where did all the water go?
- At what rate was the water lost?
- What, therefore, is the minimum age of the planet planet on the basis of this analysis?
There were no Tsunamis on Mars... Mars has NEVER had an atmosphere that can support life, or have water that wouldn't vaporize. Why? BECAUSE IT DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH MASS!!!! So unless mars was made out of solid lead a long time ago, it never had water on its surface.
Yes, that is the point. Maybe if scientist would just stop talking to journalists until journalists start including an accurate portrayal of their work, this would stop happening. You are what the media says about you.