Parts of Mars Interior as Wet as Earth's

[Eugene]

Source: SPACE.com

Parts of Mars Interior as Wet as Earth's

by SPACE.com Staff Date: 21 June 2012 Time: 07:20 PM ET

The interior of Mars holds vast reservoirs of water, with some spots apparently as wet as Earth's innards, scientists say.

The finding upends previous studies, which had estimated that the Red Planet's internal water stores were scanty at best — something of a surprise, given that liquid water apparently flowed on the Martian surface long ago.

"It’s been puzzling why previous estimates for the planet’s interior have been so dry," co-author Erik Hauri, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, said in a statement. "This new research makes sense and suggests that volcanoes may have been the primary vehicle for getting water to the surface."

The scientists examined two Martian meteorites that formed in the planet's mantle, the layer under the crust. These rocks landed on Earth about 2.5 million years ago, after being blasted off the Red Planet by a violent impact.

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Read more: http://www.space.com/16256-mars-water-underground-reservoirs.html

[Orsino]

1. That's where we're going to find all the farting going on.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/marsmethane.html


New research reveals there is hope for Mars yet. The first definitive detection of methane in the atmosphere of Mars indicates the planet is still alive, in either a biologic or geologic sense, according to a team of NASA and university scientists.

[PepperoftheNickel]

2. Water in Mars?

We should have expected it because a large percentage of Earths water is in the ground as well. Water inside the surface makes sense because from what we've learn here on Earth is that water have a tension and wants to hold onto something. If we took off water from the Earth and left a little bit then the surface would absorb it like a sponge. The water wouldn't form into the last small lake on the Earth.

With this water though, we could expect to see things like we see in Earth a mile below the surface. Maybe we'll see some big water filled caverns with blind fish and other critters. I'm not saying that if there is life on Mars that it would have to same DNA but it is very well possible for it to have the same evolutionary paths as Earth life has had.

Mars is the best example we have of what Earth could look like after a big impact event, saying this does make me a like depressed. What did we loose when Mars was hit? What life lived there? If it was similar to our DNA then where did live form first, Earth, Mars, or somewhere else? How large was Mars before the impact? What if there was something like us on Mars when it happened and what did they try to do to stop it? If I kept thinking about it I could probably come up with 1000's of questions. We may never answer all the question we form but we can at least get a few answered.

Why don't we do that?