Potentially habitable flow-like features from Martian dry ice geyser dune spots: Difference between revisions
Potentially habitable flow-like features from Martian dry ice geyser dune spots (edit)
Revision as of 19:31, 26 September 2018
, 5 years agono edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
Line 4:
However, later in the year the flow like features extend down the slopes from the dark spots, sometimes at a rate of meters per day. The details differ for the two hemispheres.
In the Southern hemisphere, both of the current models for this part of the process involve liquid water. In one of these models the features from initially as fresh water at 0 °C below clear ice in a solid state greenhouse effect, picking up salts as they start to flow outwards. The other model involves thin layers of ULI water (undercooled liquid water) which form on the surface of solar heated grains, then flows downwards, supplying several litres of water per day to the features.
The northern hemisphere flow like features form at much lower surface temperatures and if they involve brines the temperatures are around -90 °C, too low in temperature to be habitable for Earth life, at least. Also, though most of the models for the northern hemisphere features involve water, they can also be explained with dry ice and cascading dust.
| |||