Comments on: The ancientness of rocks on Mars

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 04:05:44 +0000

Those rock extensions make me wonder about “Mars Quakes”

Perhaps the larger Rock is decoupled form the ground.

By: Robert Zimmerman

Robert Zimmerman — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 03:54:19 +0000

In reply to Mike Borgelt. Mike Borgelt and Edward: This is an example of why any writer should never state facts based solely on memory. I should have checked this before I wrote it. I have corrected the post, using the numbers Edward found. Thank you both.

By: Mike Borgelt

Mike Borgelt — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 03:03:50 +0000

Yes Edward, but still closer to 1% than 0.1%. IIRC it varies with the seasons also.

By: Edward

Edward — Sat, 30 Dec 2023 22:38:02 +0000

Mike,
That was my memory, too, but I looked it up in Wikipedia (that bastion of truth) and discovered that it is closer to 0.6%. They list it as 600 Pa, and Earth’s atmosphere is 100,000 Pa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars#Atmosphere

The resulting mean surface pressure is only 0.6% of Earth’s 101.3 kPa (14.69 psi).

By: Mike Borgelt

Mike Borgelt — Sat, 30 Dec 2023 21:25:29 +0000

I think the Martian atmosphere is roughly 1% that of Earth, not 0.1% (one thousandth)