Inverted river on Mars
Cool image time! The photo to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and enhanced to post here, was taken on May 30, 2022 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows what the scientists label as a “inverted fluvial system”.
Such features are not unusual on Mars. The theory explaining their formation is that this was once a channel where either water or ice flowed, packing the streambed down so that it was more dense than the surrounding terrain. After the flowing material disappeared, the less dense surrounding terrain eroded away, leaving the channel as a meandering ridge.
The location of this inverted channel, as shown in the overview map below, lends some weight to the flowing material being water or ice.
The black dot about 250 miles north of Opportunity’s landing site marks the location of this inverted channel. Note the theorized ocean and inland sea to the west. Note also the long meandering canyon between those theorized seas and this location. According to the data, scientists believe there was once a lot of flowing water, either liquid or ice, in this region, more than enough to create this channel.
Not so fast. The scientists have been very carefully vague in their label. They call this a “fluvial system”, which could describes any flowing material, including lava.
The second image to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and enhanced to post here, was taken by the context camera on MRO. It shows a wider view of this fluvial system, with the area covered by the first picture above indicated by the white rectangle.
Drainage is likely from the east to the west, into the tadpole-like dry lake, likely the remains of an ancient crater. Even so, if this was a water drainage channel once, it was the strangest river channel I have seen. One cannot dismiss the possibility that this might have been formed by a volcanic process, and the channel might have carried lava instead of water.
Water, either liquid or ice, is still the most likely explanation, but until we can get some feet on the ground to actually study this location, we will not know for certain.
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In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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Cool image time! The photo to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and enhanced to post here, was taken on May 30, 2022 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows what the scientists label as a “inverted fluvial system”.
Such features are not unusual on Mars. The theory explaining their formation is that this was once a channel where either water or ice flowed, packing the streambed down so that it was more dense than the surrounding terrain. After the flowing material disappeared, the less dense surrounding terrain eroded away, leaving the channel as a meandering ridge.
The location of this inverted channel, as shown in the overview map below, lends some weight to the flowing material being water or ice.
The black dot about 250 miles north of Opportunity’s landing site marks the location of this inverted channel. Note the theorized ocean and inland sea to the west. Note also the long meandering canyon between those theorized seas and this location. According to the data, scientists believe there was once a lot of flowing water, either liquid or ice, in this region, more than enough to create this channel.
Not so fast. The scientists have been very carefully vague in their label. They call this a “fluvial system”, which could describes any flowing material, including lava.
The second image to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and enhanced to post here, was taken by the context camera on MRO. It shows a wider view of this fluvial system, with the area covered by the first picture above indicated by the white rectangle.
Drainage is likely from the east to the west, into the tadpole-like dry lake, likely the remains of an ancient crater. Even so, if this was a water drainage channel once, it was the strangest river channel I have seen. One cannot dismiss the possibility that this might have been formed by a volcanic process, and the channel might have carried lava instead of water.
Water, either liquid or ice, is still the most likely explanation, but until we can get some feet on the ground to actually study this location, we will not know for certain.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
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