New evidence suggests that the formation of oceans on the surface of Mars may have to do with the activity of ancient volcanoes. Research believe that it is possible that ancient Martian volcanoes released huge levels of sulfur that in turn warmed the red planet enough to establish huge liquid oceans on the surface of Mars. These oceans would have been formed while Mars was still young. Evidence of liquid water dates back almost 4 billion years, suggesting that the current frigid planet was once actually fairly warm. The atmosphere there likely trapper greenhouse gases which helped in the warming of the planet and result in liquid oceans. This would have also lead to massive deposits of limestone and other carbonic rocks on the Martian surface. The absence of these rocks on the Martian surface, though, is a mystery to the scientists investigating their theory. Further implications into the possibility of life on Mars examine where or not, due to the high levels of sulfur on the Martian surface, the oceans were too acidic to support life.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22345266/
Science, Technology and Society 361: "Mars Exploration" -- Fall 2010
Friday, December 21, 2007
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- Success for Mars rover bag test
- Mars Rovers Keep on Tickin'
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- 'Active glacier found' on Mars
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- Mars Rovers Find New Evidence Of 'Habitable Niche'
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- 'Martian Features' Found on Earth
- Earth Photographed from Mars in Surprising Detail
- Seeing the Invisible Colors of Mars
- Mars rover sits on ancient beach
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- Rover Finds New Mars Water Signs
- Giant Cousins of 'Mars Blueberries' in Utah
- Spirit Finds it Pot of Hematite
- On Mars: Earth-Like Clouds and a New Type of Rock
- New Rock Type Found at Mars
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- Mars Pictures Reveal Frozen Sea
- 'Hourglass' Shaped Craters Filled Traces Of Glacier
- Possible Ancient Equator of Mars Revealed
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- Ice lake Found on the Red Planet
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- Night Clouds Warm Red Planet
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- The Tharsis Montes Volcanoes
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- Mars Robot Unearths Microbe Clue
- Riddle of Mars's Mysterious "Spiders" Solved
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- Martian Clouds Contain Less Water Than Predicted
- Opportunity Takes A Dip Into Victoria Crater
- Testing the Possibility of Contaminating Mars
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- Your Ancestors May Be Martian
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