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Did Water or Lava Carve the Outflow Channels on Mars?
Outflow channel in the Tharsis region on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Large features on Mars called outflow channels have been a point of contention among planetary scientists. “Most Mars scientists accept that outflow channels were carved by water, but alternate hypotheses persist, especially that lava carved the outflow channels,” said Alfred McEwen Principal Investigator of the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. McEwen said that water is still the preferred mechanism and doubts that all the channels could have been created by lava flows. But in what could be seen as a type of compromise, he offered a new theory for the outflow channels, based on observations by HiRISE: the channels were originally carved by huge water flows on ancient Mars and later were partially filled in by lava.
“This sequence of events provides a better explanation,” McEwen said.
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Read the rest of Did Water or Lava Carve the Outflow Channels on Mars? (521 words)
© nancy for Universe Today, 2012. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), Mars, Missions, Water on Mars
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