The Martian seabed?
Click for full image.
Cool image time! Above is an image taken by the high resolution camera of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) in November 2018 of an area in the vast relatively featureless northern lowlands of Mars. I have rotated, cropped, and reduced it to post here.
I have also indicated two sections, indicated by the white boxes, that I have cropped out of the full resolution image to highlight some interesting features. Both images can be seen in full resolution below.
While the northern lowlands seem featureless from a distance, with few craters, a closer look always reveals many things that are both baffling and fascinating. In this case the region is called Galaxias Colles, a region of mesas and knobby hills. This particular image was dubbed “Cones in Galaxias Colles,” and was clearly taken to get a better look at these strange blobby features.
The first inset to the right, from the center of the image, shows a number of circular features that might be impact craters, but if so they are very indistinct, suggesting they have been eroded significantly.
These features could also be mud volcanoes, releasing material from below due to some geological process.
The second inset to the right, from the photograph’s left, highlights several even stranger and baffling features, the largest of which reminds me of the bare three-toed footprint of some giant. Here too the features look eroded.
It is thought that an intermittent ocean might have once covered these northern Martian lowlands. Moreover, the more north one travels on Mars the wetter the surface material is thought to be. Thus, there could be a lot of ice present here, either as an underground ice table or mixed into the soil.
To my untrained eye, all this makes me think I am looking at what was once the ocean floor of that intermittent ocean.
Don’t bet on it. According to this research paper, “Liquid water has not been regarded as a product of the degradation of these icy terrains.” Furthermore this location is only at 36 degrees north latitude. It is not that far north, and in fact it remains uncertain how much ice is present in the ground at this Martian latitude.
In their research the scientists are not even sure if the erosion we see here was caused by groundwater melting or heating by the arrival of lava from the giant volcano Elysium Mons to the immediate south. All they know for certain is that this terrain that has been significantly changed, meaning that its structure was weak and prone to easy erosion.
The result are geological features seen nowhere on Earth.
The support of my readers through the years has given 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. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
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. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to 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.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five 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:
5. 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. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
Click for full image.
Cool image time! Above is an image taken by the high resolution camera of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) in November 2018 of an area in the vast relatively featureless northern lowlands of Mars. I have rotated, cropped, and reduced it to post here.
I have also indicated two sections, indicated by the white boxes, that I have cropped out of the full resolution image to highlight some interesting features. Both images can be seen in full resolution below.
While the northern lowlands seem featureless from a distance, with few craters, a closer look always reveals many things that are both baffling and fascinating. In this case the region is called Galaxias Colles, a region of mesas and knobby hills. This particular image was dubbed “Cones in Galaxias Colles,” and was clearly taken to get a better look at these strange blobby features.
The first inset to the right, from the center of the image, shows a number of circular features that might be impact craters, but if so they are very indistinct, suggesting they have been eroded significantly.
These features could also be mud volcanoes, releasing material from below due to some geological process.
The second inset to the right, from the photograph’s left, highlights several even stranger and baffling features, the largest of which reminds me of the bare three-toed footprint of some giant. Here too the features look eroded.
It is thought that an intermittent ocean might have once covered these northern Martian lowlands. Moreover, the more north one travels on Mars the wetter the surface material is thought to be. Thus, there could be a lot of ice present here, either as an underground ice table or mixed into the soil.
To my untrained eye, all this makes me think I am looking at what was once the ocean floor of that intermittent ocean.
Don’t bet on it. According to this research paper, “Liquid water has not been regarded as a product of the degradation of these icy terrains.” Furthermore this location is only at 36 degrees north latitude. It is not that far north, and in fact it remains uncertain how much ice is present in the ground at this Martian latitude.
In their research the scientists are not even sure if the erosion we see here was caused by groundwater melting or heating by the arrival of lava from the giant volcano Elysium Mons to the immediate south. All they know for certain is that this terrain that has been significantly changed, meaning that its structure was weak and prone to easy erosion.
The result are geological features seen nowhere on Earth.
The support of my readers through the years has given 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. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
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. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to 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.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five 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:
5. 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. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
Readers: the rules for commenting!
No registration is required. I welcome all opinions, even those that strongly criticize my commentary.
However, name-calling and obscenities will not be tolerated. First time offenders who are new to the site will be warned. Second time offenders or first time offenders who have been here awhile will be suspended for a week. After that, I will ban you. Period.
Note also that first time commenters as well as any comment with more than one link will be placed in moderation for my approval. Be patient, I will get to it.