NASA finds evidence of flowing water on Mars

[News_Editor]

NASA finds evidence of flowing water on Mars

2011-08-05 15:42:04 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON (BNO NEWS) -- Scientists have found new evidence of possible salt water flows on Mars, NASA announced on Thursday. Observations from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have revealed possible flowing water during the warmest months on Mars.

NASA said scientists repeatedly observed that dark, finger-like features appear and extend down some steep slopes during spring in the middle latitudes of Mars' southern hemisphere.

"The best explanation for these observations so far is the flow of briny water," said Alfred McEwen, the principal investigator for the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and lead author of Mars' recurring flows report published in Thursday's edition of the journal Science.

Though some aspects of the observations still puzzle researchers, flowing liquid brine is the best explanation considering the features' characteristics.

Sites with active flows get warm enough to sustain liquid water as salty as Earth's oceans, while pure water would freeze at the observed temperatures. Saltiness lowers the freezing temperature of water.

Salt deposits over much of Mars indicate brines were abundant in Mars' past and NASA's recent observations suggest brines still may form near the surface today in limited times and places.

If further study of the recurring dark flows supports evidence of brines, these could be the first known Martian locations with liquid water. Frozen water has been detected in many regions but this is the closest scientists have come to finding evidence of liquid water on Mars' surface.

"NASA's Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said, "and it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration."

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