Mars once had oceans, and was "a great place to live"
- added July 16, 2008
- 4 responses
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- rwylie
- added this
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The image of barren, rocky, frozen plains we have come to associate with the 'Red planet' does not so much as hint that it could ever have supported life.
However the giant cayons which cut through the planet's surface have long been interpreted by scientists as evidence that water once flowed, as they bear many classic features of fluvial erosion on Earth. But it's extremely hard to determine when, if at all, it was present, for how long, and what caused it to disappear.
Now though, a professor at Brown University, after examining the very latest data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, has deduced that Mars was once "a benign, water-rich environment", and importantly it was so "for a long time". This supports the theory that at one point (from 4.6-3.8 billion year ago) Mars could have supported microbial life, in a similar way as did our young planet.
Some of the most exciting evidence was the observation of hydrated clay-like minerals, which were "clearly lain by water." These minerals were deposited in "fans and deltas", which further indicates that flooding once took place.
The next test the team want to carry out is to search for organic chemistry, the fingerprint of life, on Mars, to continue to build evidence that it could have supported life.
However the giant cayons which cut through the planet's surface have long been interpreted by scientists as evidence that water once flowed, as they bear many classic features of fluvial erosion on Earth. But it's extremely hard to determine when, if at all, it was present, for how long, and what caused it to disappear.
Now though, a professor at Brown University, after examining the very latest data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, has deduced that Mars was once "a benign, water-rich environment", and importantly it was so "for a long time". This supports the theory that at one point (from 4.6-3.8 billion year ago) Mars could have supported microbial life, in a similar way as did our young planet.
Some of the most exciting evidence was the observation of hydrated clay-like minerals, which were "clearly lain by water." These minerals were deposited in "fans and deltas", which further indicates that flooding once took place.
The next test the team want to carry out is to search for organic chemistry, the fingerprint of life, on Mars, to continue to build evidence that it could have supported life.
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One very interesting thing here is the timescale; this study suggests that Mars became habitable much earlier than Earth, which was undergoing massive bombardment before 3.8 billion years ago.
There is a viable theory that life could have arrived on Earth from Mars, seeded by a meteorite. -
Yes, but they have also determined that it was not just a sea on Mars but it was iced over, the life you have had to be extremely determined...
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- thekingbeyond
- 2 months ago
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That's interesting, where did you read that?
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