 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Is Mars' Ring Around The Collar An Ancient Receding Glacier?
Los Angeles (SPX) Mar 03, 2005 In 1999 I sent SpaceDaily, and other media, information from a 1998 informal study I did of some Mars Global Surveyor images of the northern hemisphere of Mars. The first image I found was suggestive of an icy cracked terrain similar in appearance to images returned of the surface of Europa. I showed the raw image to a few geologists who said the image just showed a lot of dust devil activity. Sure there were dust devils there, but the terrain definitely showed deep shadows from the cracks. If the cracks were indicative of water ice, this would mean there is an enormous resource for life on Mars as well as a source of water for any future human missions to Mars. Not wanting to just dismiss the cracks and crevices as merely dust devil activity I asked circadian astrobiologist Dr. Joseph Miller of the University of Southern California to do some computer enhancements for me from this same latitude. His image (pictured) dramatically shows the extended relief of the topography. Miller's enhanced image show that the cracks are not just dust devil tracks as others have interpreted but are rather genuine cracks and crevices on the surface with some dust devil tracks running through and over them. These first few images piqued my curiosity, so I continued to look at other MGS frames from this latitude and found similar features in an enormous area that almost covers the entire northern hemisphere between 50 and 65 degrees. Most of the images from MGS at these latitudes reveal numerous cracks, crevices, and fissures with abundant partially buried craters poking up through. In most of images I examined numerous dust devil tracks are seen crisscrossing the terrain making it somewhat confusing to sort out which were true cracks and what were dust devil tracks. Along with cracks and crevices some other images from this region show polygonal terrain, suggestive of the freeze-thaw cycling of ground ice.
|
