See also http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=32810 which has some related information about the investigation of water on Mars.NASA Mars Orbiters See Clues to Possible Water Flows
February 10, 2014
NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars have returned clues for understanding seasonal features that are the strongest indication of possible liquid water that may exist today on the Red Planet.
The features are dark, finger-like markings that advance down some Martian slopes when temperatures rise. The new clues include corresponding seasonal changes in iron minerals on the same slopes and a survey of ground temperatures and other traits at active sites. These support a suggestion that brines with an iron-mineral antifreeze, such as ferric sulfate, may flow seasonally, though there are still other possible explanations.
Researchers call these dark flows "recurring slope lineae." As a result, RSL has become one of the hottest acronyms at meetings of Mars scientists.
...
The leading hypothesis for these features is the flow of near-surface water, kept liquid by salts depressing the freezing point of pure water.
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In related research, reported in a paper to be published by the journal Icarus next month ... results indicate that many sites with slopes, latitudes and temperatures matching known RSL sites do not have any evident RSL.
Read more at
JPL-NASA
The new research reports about recurring slope lineae are available at
http://wray.eas.gatech.edu/Ojha_etal201 ... tedGRL.pdf and
http://wray.eas.gatech.edu/Ojha_etal201 ... Icarus.pdf.
NASA Mars Orbiters See Clues to Possible Water Flows
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NASA Mars Orbiters See Clues to Possible Water Flows
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