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Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) is forcing a reexamination and revision of theories about Mars
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 04:40 pm ET
14 March 2001
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Subsurface ice
Nadine Barlow, professor of astronomy at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, said that new data suggest that the crust of Mars is not as thick as once thought. That thinner crust suggests the planet had an active heat flow for a long period of time.
The sprawling Valles Marineris -- south of this canyon system is Solis Planum, perhaps an underground reservoir of ice and liquid water.
Barlow said that she’s convinced a giant, near-surface ice reservoir exists just south of Valles Marineris -- the huge canyon system that cuts across Mars. "It’s a very, very large area of subsurface ice, about the same size as the state of Arizona," she said.
Future spacecraft, such as the European Space Agency’s Mars Express, to be launched in 2003, will carry radar systems, Barlow said. That gear can penetrate through the dust-laden surface of Mars and should identify any ice deposits that may be resident there, very close to the surface, she said.
Volcano watch
Mars experts at the conference suggest that belching volcanoes in certain areas of the planet were active to recent times, geologically speaking.
Tracy Gregg, assistant professor of geology at the State University of New York at Buffalo, has lead a team studying Tyrrhena Patera and Hadriaca Patera, two volcanoes on Mars.
Using both new photos and laser data from the Mars Global Surveyor, these geologic features are among the oldest, and perhaps longest-lived volcanoes on Mars, Gregg said.
"Tyrrhena Patera has been active for most of Mars’ history. It may still be active. We don’t know," Gregg told SPACE.com. "Most agree that Mars, if not geologically dead now, is dying," she said.
Even if now dormant, long-lived volcanoes might be perfect spots to search for fossil life, Gregg said. The combination of sustained heat and water is a nice recipe for life, she said.
Tsunamis on Mars
A team of Japanese researchers from the University of Tokyo reported that Mars could have been the site of tsunamis. If there were oceans on Mars, impacts of large meteorites would form a marine target crater, as well as propagate a rushing wall of water.
According to Isao Takamiya in the Graduate School of Frontier Science at the University of Tokyo, there is a possibility of finding geological evidence of tsunami deposits around the shoreline of any ancient ocean on Mars.
They suggest a future spacecraft might be landed within a cratered section of Mars, called the Western Arabia Shelf. That area had been identified by other scientists as the site of suspected marine target craters, the research team reported.
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