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Old 16-August-2006, 09:34 PM
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Default Jets on Mars' south polar cap
Space.com news article: Roaring Jets of Carbon Dioxide Solve Mars Mystery

Quote:
Peculiar spots, fan-like markings, and spider-shaped features on Mars' southern ice cap are seasonal formations, researchers announced today.

The shapes are formed by thin layers of dark dusty material that are sprayed by roaring jets of carbon dioxide that erupt through the ice cap.

[...]

The warmed material produces a reservoir of pressurized gas under the slab, lifting it off the ground. The weak spots in the slab break through and high-pressure gas shoot up at speeds of almost 100 mph carrying loose sand and particles into the Martian air, the researchers propose.
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Old 16-August-2006, 10:13 PM
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Default A levitating ice cap
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Two papers in this issue discuss the remarkable seasonal changes seen at the martian south pole. The ice caps on Mars are composed mainly of frozen carbon dioxide, with unusual dark spots that have been attributed to a clear slab of nearly pure CO2 ice. Langevin et al. present infrared and visible images from the THEMIS camera on Mars Odyssey that are not consistent with the presence of a thick slab of transparent ice. In the companion paper Kieffer et al. report infrared and visible data that show that the features stay at CO2 ice temperatures well into summer, and must be granular materials brought up to the surface of the ice. They propose a model involving a translucent, impermeable CO2 cap in which sublimation occurs at the base, producing high-velocity CO2 gas flow beneath the ice, levitation of the cap and jets that erupt sand-sized grains through vents.
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Old 16-August-2006, 10:39 PM
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That sort of news might really disappoint the Martian tree advocates like those asked about in topic Clarke says Mars has life?? or topic Martian plant-life?
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Old 16-August-2006, 11:01 PM
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Hum,
I'm sure they'll come up with some sort of `black smokers` theory...
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