London, Oct 29 (PTI) Small amounts of boiling watercauses sand on Mars to 'levitate' and move around, accordingto a study that could solve the mystery of how features suchas large dune flows and gullies are formed on the red planet.
Experiments carried out in a simulation chamber which isable to recreate the atmospheric conditions on Mars showedthat Mars' thin atmosphere combined with periods of relativelywarm surface temperatures causes water flowing on the surfaceto violently boil.
This process can then move large amounts of sand andother sediment, which effectively 'levitates' on the boilingwater.
This means that, in comparison to the Earth, relativelysmall amounts of liquid water moving across Mars' surfacecould form the large dune flows, gullies and other features,which characterise the red planet.
"Whilst planetary scientists already know that thesurface of Mars has 'mass-wasting' features - such as duneflows, gullies, and recurring slope lineae - which occur as aresult of sediment transportation down a slope, the debateabout what is forming them continues," said Jan Raack,research fellow at The Open University in the UK.
"Our research has discovered that this levitation effectcaused by boiling water under low pressure enables the rapidtransport of sand and sediment across the surface," saidRaack.
"This is a new geological phenomenon, which doesn'thappen on Earth, and could be vital to understanding similarprocesses on other planetary surfaces," he said.
"We need to carry out more research into how waterlevitates on Mars, and missions such as the ESA ExoMars 2020Rover will provide vital insight to help us better understandour closest neighbour," he added. PTI MHNMHN.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.
