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Hieroglyphic-like Features Point to Past Subsurface Water on Mars

Friday, February 22, 2013 14:52

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(Before It's News)

These unusual shapes on Mars surface are actually cones and inflated lava flows, Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

Although these strange features on Mars look a bit like hieroglyphics or geoglyphs such as the mysterious Nazca lines on Earth, they are completely natural features, ones that are found on Earth too.

This is one of the latest images from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Called ‘rootless cones,’ they form on lava flows that interact with subsurface water or ice. Their formation comes from an explosive interaction of lava with ground ice or water contained within the regolith beneath the flow. Vaporization of the water or ice when the hot lava comes in contact causes an explosive expansion of the water vapor, causing the lava to shoot upward, creating a rootless cone.
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Read the rest of Hieroglyphic-like Features Point to Past Subsurface Water on Mars (332 words)