# Mars has ice lake



## Brian G Turner (Jul 30, 2005)

Cool pic and interesting ideas:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4727847.stm



> A giant patch of frozen water has been pictured nestled within an unnamed impact crater on Mars.  The photographs were taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on board Mars Express, the European Space Agency probe which is exploring the planet.
> 
> The ice disc is located on Vastitas Borealis, a broad plain that covers much of Mars' far northern latitudes.


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## lazygun (Jul 30, 2005)

Would be great if this could be confimed as definately frozen liquid water.Rather than a low protected area of CO2 "frosting".
Maybe only the quality of the picture,but the water appears to have "geography".If you look at the 10-11 o'clock position the water _appears_ to have frozen half way up a hill/mound?. .
Would liquid on a planet with gravity not find _one_ level?.Or has it been frozen so long that the geograpy itself has moved beneath it?. 

Will be intresting to see what comes from further study/info.Hope you will keep us informed I,Brian?.


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## Maryjane (Jul 31, 2005)

It's starting to look more like Mars was a live planet at one time don't it.  
Love

Maryjane

_
_


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## Brian G Turner (Jul 31, 2005)

I actually argued a few years back that a lot of the claims for water is pure hype to sustain exploration of Mars - it was always known that carbon dioxide ice was flowing about the Martian landscape, but suddenly any sign of "flow" became evidence of "water".

There's no disputing that there's water in some form on Mars - but the extent and purity of the water seems to have been vastly exaggerated, not least in the press conference I ranted against in the link in this post.

The problem is that the water is not necessarily in a useful or easily accessible form - take the pic above - NASA makes plentiful suggestion that we're effectively looking at pure water ice - there's no suggestion at all that what we're looking at is a complex organic ice, of which water is only one constituent and not necessarily even the largest.


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## dustinzgirl (Jul 31, 2005)

It is however possible, say at one point a few trillion years ago, that there was life on mars.  Since our solar system travels towards the gravitational pull of the sun, Mars could have been where we are now, where life flourishes because of the distance from the sun.  Possible, but I dont know about likely. 

I do not know about the possibility of the water on mars being completly "pure." But knowing that there is ice formations on mars definetly sparks the imagination.  And fatty US Gov grants.


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## Stalker (Aug 1, 2005)

Mars also has distinct traces of rivers and sea shorelines. Any geologist can easily prove it! The dark areas (probably, moistured grounds) remaining after the South Ice Cap withdrawal during short summer in southern hemisphere may witness that part of the ice there is water ice - not that of carbon dioxide.
The most misterious thing, however, is presence of methane in the martian atmosphere. Methane, as scientists explain that, is a product of vital functions of orgainisms.​


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## chrispenycate (Nov 17, 2005)

Stalker said:
			
		

> Mars also has distinct traces of rivers and sea shorelines. Any geologist can easily prove it! The dark areas (probably, moistured grounds) remaining after the South Ice Cap withdrawal during short summer in southern hemisphere may witness that part of the ice there is water ice - not that of carbon dioxide.
> The most misterious thing, however, is presence of methane in the martian atmosphere. Methane, as scientists explain that, is a product of vital functions of orgainisms.​


Methane, in the presence of oxygen, is a pretty good indication of life, or at least of some ongoing process to renew the one or the other (possibly vulcanism) However, methane is a fairly simple molecule made up of common elements,  and can be detected on many satelites within the solar system, and its presence in a reducing atmosphere doesn't really prove anything.
Indeed, when suggesting the  components of the pre-life atmosphere on earth, methane is almost always on the list.
Spoil sport, aren't I?


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## Brian G Turner (Nov 18, 2005)

Stalker said:
			
		

> Mars also has distinct traces of rivers and sea shorelines. Any geologist can easily prove it!


 
The problem, though, is that evidence of liquid erosion is not evidence of water.


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