Liquid water may not have played a significant role in the red dust formation process.
Is Mars red because of rocks and soil that have undergone a process of weathering and rusting by water that once flowed on the planet's soil? And is the only reason for the discovery of the mineral hematite by Mars satellites and the Madymic research probe, is the abundant water that bubbled there? Not necessarily, says a new study. The research done by Dr. Jonathan Marrison from the Ahrus Mars Simulation Laboratories in Denmark shows that the red color covering the surface of Mars could have been created due to continuous erosion of rocks on the surface of the ground. Liquid water may not have played a significant role in the red dust formation process.
"Mars should actually look black, between two white domes at the poles, since most of the rocks in the mid-latitudes are basalt," says Marison. "For decades, we assumed that red areas on the surface of Mars were associated with an abundance of water in the early history of the planet and that, at least in several areas, oxidation of iron minerals by water occurred."
The red dust that covers the entire surface of Mars and is even found in its atmosphere, controls the weather and sometimes the layer of dust thickens so much that it covers the entire planet in darkness. Although dust has the ability to disperse, we do not fully understand its physiological, chemical and geological properties.
Marrison and his team are working on obtaining accurate measurements of the mineral composition on Mars in order to understand the structure and formation of the environment on the surface of the ground, to understand its relationship with the atmosphere as well as to explore and search for life on Mars.
In the latest research in their laboratory, the scientists at the Mars Simulation Laboratory have found a breakthrough technology for simulating the passage of sand on Mars. They hermetically sealed sand samples made of quartz in glass vials and "dirty" their grains mechanically for several months, by turning each bottle 10 million times. In the experiment they found that 10% of the sand turned into dust. When the scientists added magnetite powder, an oxidized iron mineral found in reddish basalt, to the vials, they were surprised to find that the substance in the vials slowly turned a red hue when we "dirty" the grains.
"Red-orange layers of material began to appear inside the vials. Analysis of the results of the obtained material showed that magnetite fell into the red mineral hematite, in a purely mechanical way without the presence of water during all the stages of the process," says Dr. Marrison.
The scientists believe that as the grains of sand made of quartz are overturned and messed up, they disintegrate quickly and as a result of reactions between them they become minerals. How exactly this occurs requires further investigation, further experimentation and analytical work. What is certain is that the initial experiment showed that the process not only could take place in air, but that it could be in a dry atmosphere made of carbon dioxide, which exactly represented the environment on Mars.
Scientists around the world, working on new missions and improved tools to reach the Red Planet, will continue to develop improved computer models and simulators on the surface of NASA to try to penetrate through the mysterious red mantle of the planet.
"By simulating the conditions and developing accurate analogies of the Mediterranean environment, we will be able to gain a deeper understanding of its nature. Especially the development of analogies of the surface of Mars and the atmosphere are essential to the interpretation of the observations made by probes from Mars as well as those that will be received from pioneer pilots of the next generation who will fly to examine the area", says Dr. Marrison.
Marrison presented his findings at the European Planetary Science Congress last week.
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What are the true colors of the surface of Mars?
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A. Ben-Ner:
The article describes a study done in Denmark and not by Yael.
There they tested the effect of the winds.
You said there are no ghosts and Yael explained to you that there are.
The researchers showed that winds are enough to reach the red color.
Therefore - even if it turns out that UV radiation can contribute to the matter - this will not invalidate the claim (which I suggest you remember has been proven!) that the spirits also contributed to this (because the experiment showed that they could do this even without the aid of radiation).
questionnaire,
The article presents an opinion which says that it is possible that the red color of Mars was obtained not because of the water but because of other processes.
No one was here a billion years ago to know why the surface of Mars is red, so today we have to infer and guess what exactly happened there. Forecasting weather and understanding geological processes is not a simple thing - let's say we don't have enough computing power to understand and simulate a tsunami on Earth, so all the more complex processes like those that take place on another planet.
What's more, the article hides between the lines a cynical statement towards the scientific community and our methods of investigation. Humanity wants so much to find water, to find organic materials and to look for extraterrestrial life, that we invest a lot of money and study only the theories that come to confirm this, and forget to look objectively, to test alternative theories as well.
rationalize,
The big difference between Earth and Mars is the density of the atmosphere and its composition.
While UV radiation is mostly blocked by the Earth's atmosphere, on Mars it is almost never blocked and reaches, for the most part, the surface of the ground.
So despite the differences in the distance you mentioned, the surface of Mars is much more exposed to UV radiation than the surface of the Earth.
questionnaire:
I have no special understanding on the subject.
I feed, like you, on the news that is published about him.
Happy New Year Mr. Rothschild,
What is your understanding of the color of Mars and the possibility of finding water on it
In the past or in the present?
questionnaire:
You probably didn't read this article knowing:
https://www.hayadan.org.il/new-images-reveal-pure-water-ice-at-low-latitudes-on-mars-2609092/
I happened to come across a very interesting article that came out 3 days ago.
In the article, NASA shows fresh impacts of meteorites on the Martian soil
And the material thrown to the sides looks like ice.
So maybe the reddish color of the star is related to water after all.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/24sep_martianice.htm
Yael, interesting article.
Reminds me of an article I read about the Earth's magnetic field, and the holes in it (North Pole in the South and vice versa), in the sense that there were also things that were not properly understood until they did an empirical experiment with a huge dynamo that simulates the Earth's magnetic field.
Sometimes one successful experiment is equivalent to dozens of theories blooming in the air. (only sometimes)
Happy New Year and happy signing,
If I understood correctly, when the basalt on Mars is eroded by the strong winds, the dust
or the sand they carry, then the basalt particles, which are quenched by several metals, oxidize
And create the color of the star's edge?
It is not clear from the article whether the mixing of the sand was done in atmospheric conditions similar to Mars,
Because if carbon dioxide (95% of the atmosphere) can be involved in the process
Oxidation of the magnetite or maybe other components in the atmosphere?
If there was once water flowing on Mars as seen from the topographical structure, yes
The temperature should be at least 5 Celsius, or generously 20 Celsius.
Today the average is -60 Celsius, in order for such a drastic change in temperature to take place,
The star is said to undergo a radical change of cooling, which may be related to the sun
which is the source of heat and the orbit of Mars around it?
It is also interesting whether it is possible to find clues on the surface of the two moons of Mars?
And of course the most interesting question is (assuming that water once flowed over it),
Where did the water go? Did the drop in temperature turn the water into a solid which
Were they assimilated into the planet by geological processes?
Caused by Jupiter, they made it behave like a comet to tell millions of years until Asher
It re-stabilized (and when it approached the sun, the water evaporated beyond strength
His appeal?
Lots of speculation that needs investigation. Very interesting topic.
Thanks for the article.
A. Ben-Ner,
On the surface of Mars there are many strong winds that move sand from place to place as you can see in the link.
http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%93%D7%99%D7%9D#.D7.9E.D7.99.D7.93.D7.A2_.D7.9B.D7.9C.D7.9C.D7.99
The existence or non-existence of spirits does not depend in this case on the thin atmosphere of the planet.
Regarding the proximity to the Sun, Mars is 1.5 astronomical units from the Sun, while Earth is one astronomical unit from the Sun, so we need to prove, according to your proposal, the effects of solar radiation on the same materials already here on Earth.
Thanks Liran,
happy New Year
The article is very interesting, but the thought occurs to me that the "mixing" done in the aforementioned experiment does not faithfully represent the conditions on Mars. There, as I imagine, under conditions of extremely low atmospheric pressure, there is almost no mixing and erosion by winds.
On the other hand, there is the greatest exposure to solar radiation, including strong UV radiation. Doesn't it make more sense to test the effect of this radiation on the quartz and magnetite mixture?
Yael, what's the situation?
happy New Year