MARSDAILY
Study casts doubt on Mars water find

disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only
by Staff Writers
 Tucson (UPI) Mar 03, 2008
 A U.S. scientist said high resolution images raise doubt that liquid water has been found on the surface of Mars.

Jon D. Pelletier of The University of Arizona in Tucson said topographic data from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows that a bright streak in a gully on the side of a crater is probably not water.

Pelletier, an associate professor of geosciences, said the researchers applied the basic physics of how fluid flows under the conditions on Mars to determine how a flow of pure liquid water would look on the HiRISE images vs. how an avalanche of sand and gravel would look, the university said Friday in a release.

"The dry granular case was the winner," said Pelletier. "I was surprised. I started off thinking we were going to prove it's liquid water."

He said the research does not rule out the possibility that the images show flows of very thick mud containing about 50 percent to 60 percent sediment.

The report will be published in the March issue of Geology.

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MARSDAILY
Unique Martian Formation Reproduced, Reveals Brief Bursts Of Water
 Blacksburg VA (SPX) Feb 22, 2008
 Researchers from the United States and the Netherlands report that several formations on Mars indicate incidents of rapid release of water from the planet's interior. Mars has many basins that contain formations that look like fans. A few of these fans, only about 10, have steps down into the basin.
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