New study confirms liquid water under Mars’ south pole
A new study has confirmed earlier work that suggested there were liquid lakes of water under the Martian south pole.
The data appears to indicate that the bodies are “hypersaline solutions” –a brine in which high concentrations of salt are dissolved in water – which is perhaps the reason they are able to stay liquid despite the very cold conditions of Mars’s south pole.
The fact that there is a whole set of lakes suggests that they have probably formed relatively easily, and that versions of them may therefore have been present throughout the history of the planet. [emphasis mine]
There is one problem with hypothesis indicated by the highlighted words. Mars’ rotational tilt (its obliquity) shifts significantly, from 0 to 60 degrees. Right now it is tilted about 25 degrees, similar to Earth. The south pole as we see it today will have been very different at different obliquities, which means there is no way to assume these posited underground lakes would have been there.
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A new study has confirmed earlier work that suggested there were liquid lakes of water under the Martian south pole.
The data appears to indicate that the bodies are “hypersaline solutions” –a brine in which high concentrations of salt are dissolved in water – which is perhaps the reason they are able to stay liquid despite the very cold conditions of Mars’s south pole.
The fact that there is a whole set of lakes suggests that they have probably formed relatively easily, and that versions of them may therefore have been present throughout the history of the planet. [emphasis mine]
There is one problem with hypothesis indicated by the highlighted words. Mars’ rotational tilt (its obliquity) shifts significantly, from 0 to 60 degrees. Right now it is tilted about 25 degrees, similar to Earth. The south pole as we see it today will have been very different at different obliquities, which means there is no way to assume these posited underground lakes would have been there.
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.
Explanation of freezing point depression in water, a possible mechanism for the existence of liquid water (in the form of brine) on Mars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjw9oIKQLwE