JRM wrote:
(quoting my post)"Recently, photographs were released showing that liquid may have recently flowed on Mars. The experts are baffled because Mars is colder than Antarctica in the winter..."
Does the truth matter?
Why yes, JRM, it certainly does. If you'll read my profile, you'll find that I’m very interested in finding truth.
You went on to inform me of the following:
Here is a scholarly study of water on Mars:
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1993LPI....24..973M
The fist sentence of the abstract:
"Current Martian equatorial surface temperatures are too warm for water ice to exist at the surface for any appreciable length of time before subliming into the atmosphere."[my emphasis]
After doing further research and talking with someone who actually knows something about the topic, I’ll offer the following:
From this link:
The average recorded temperature on Mars is -63° C (-81° F) with a maximum temperature of 20° C (68° F) and a minimum of -140° C (-220° F).
This maximum temperature on Mars rarely occurs, but when it does, it is (1) at the Martian equator, (2) during the summer, and (3) at the place in Mars orbit when it is closest to the sun (its perihelion). None of these three—let alone all three—conditions applies where liquid water has flowed during the past few years. Worst of all, the water flowed down crater walls—surfaces that are far from perpendicular to the sun's rays.
From this link:
9. The average winter temperature in Antarctica is -15 to -30 degrees Celsius.
Therefore, it is correct that:
1. Photographs were released showing that liquid water flowed on Mars during the last 2–5 years. Experts are baffled, because Mars is colder than Antarctica in the winter.
A simple explanation can be found at this link.
What about the irrelevant comment:
"Current Martian equatorial surface temperatures are too warm for water ice to exist at the surface for any appreciable length of time before subliming into the atmosphere."
Sublimation (or subliming) is the process by which a solid passes directly into vapor. For water, that would be ice or snow or frost evaporating without ever melting to become a liquid. That can happen on Mars because of its extremely low atmospheric pressure (about 1% that of Earth). What is at issue is liquid water flowing down crater walls. Frost will sublimate on Mars at all temperatures below 32 ° F.
Yes, scientists are baffled by what happens on Mars.
Thanks for your comment.
