Climate on Early Mars May Have Been Very Similar to Antarctica: https://facebook/…/The-Nazi-Ahnener…/288175454616060 Life in Antarctica, in the form of algal mats, is very resistant to extremely cold and dry conditions and simply waits for the episodic infusion of water to bloom and develop, says James W. Head, professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Brown University. Thus, the ancient and currently dry and barren river and lake floors on Mars may harbor the remnants of similar primitive life, if it ever occurred on Mars. Ample evidence of ancient rivers, streams, and lakes make it clear that Mars was at some point warm enough for liquid water to flow on its surface. While that may conjure up images of a tropical Martian paradise, new research published today in Nature Geoscience throws a bit of cold water on that notion. The study, by scientists from Brown University and Israels Weizmann Institute of Science, suggests that warmth and water flow on ancient Mars were probably episodic, related to brief periods of volcanic activity that spewed tons of greenhouse-inducing sulfur dioxide gas into the atmosphere. The work, which combines the effect of volcanism with the latest climate models of early Mars, suggests that periods of temperatures warm enough for water to flow likely lasted for only tens or hundreds of years at a time...contd @ https://facebook/…/The-Nazi-Ahnener…/288175454616060
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 13:52:12 +0000
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