Martian Life: Where Fire Meets Ice?


	Martian Life: Where Fire Meets Ice?

invictus

9-5-2008 8:31 PM

497 views

tags:

mars, life, glaciers, volcanoes, science

invictus says:

"It's possible that volcanic activity on Mars is much more widespread and recent than people on the whole thought," Hovius said. "This is a flood bigger than anything we've seen on Earth."

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/55399f7b-ca1f-4742-a309-4f91b060053e/C91F5991-63D7-4002-B310-F475384A95FA/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/09/05/mars-fire-ice.html" href="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/09/05/mars-fire-ice.html" style="font-size: 11px;">dsc.discovery.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/09/05/mars-fire-ice.html"><div align="center"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/dsc.discovery.com/img/1EEB67EA-6BDD-4F90-BDB7-B92609ED4953" alt="Martian North Pole" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/09/05/mars-fire-ice.html"><P><STRONG>Sept. 5, 2008</STRONG> -- If life on Mars exists, it may dwell in a violent home. </P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/09/05/mars-fire-ice.html"><P>The <A target="_blank" href="http://science.howstuffworks.com/mars.htm">Red Planet</A> is no stranger to fiery volcanic eruptions: It is home to the solar system's largest volcano, Olympus Mons. The planet is also well-endowed with ice, which has <A target="_blank" href="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/03/15/marspole_spa.html">collected in large sheets</A> near its north and south poles. Yet a key ingredient for life as we know it -- liquid water -- remains elusive. </P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/09/05/mars-fire-ice.html"><P>But what if fire met ice in the <A target="_blank" href="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/07/03/mars-lander-bake.html">Martian north</A>? On Earth, <A target="_blank" href="http://science.howstuffworks.com/volcano.htm">volcanoes</A> sometimes erupt beneath glaciers, melting huge quantities of water and spawning massive floods. Lakes of meltwater are sometimes pinned at the bottoms of glaciers. </P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/09/05/mars-fire-ice.html"><P>Could the same happen on Mars? If so, it might be one of the best places to look for alien life. Now a new study published this month in the planetary science journal <EM>Icarus</EM> claims to have found evidence of just such an event in the Abalos region, at the edge of the northern ice cap. </P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/C91F5991-63D7-4002-B310-F475384A95FA/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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