Previously, scientists assumed that this movement was caused by flows of liquid mud or dry granular flows.
New work hypothesizes that melting icein near-surface regolith causes changes on the surface that make it vulnerable to dust storms and wind. As a result, RSLs appear and/or expand on the surface of Mars.
Image RSL
In addition, the team believes that thin layersmelting ice is the result of interactions between underground water ice, chlorine salts and sulphates, which create a fluid slush that provokes sinkholes, ground collapse, surface currents and uplifts.
Scientific experiment data High ResolutionThe Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows that RSLs are located on sunward slopes, where they continue to appear and/or expand over time.
Previous research has suggested that RSLare associated with chlorine salts and have been noted to occur in areas with high sulfate content. The new work expands on these observations: analog field studies on Earth, such as in the dry valleys of Antarctica, the Dead Sea in Israel, and the Salar de Pajonales of the Atacama Desert, show that when salts interact with gypsum or water underground, it causes disturbances on the surface including landslides and landslides.
To test their theory, the team ranlaboratory experiments: They froze and thawed analogue samples of Mars, composed of chlorine salts and sulfates, at low temperatures, such as on Mars. As a result, slushy ice of about –50 ° С was formed, followed by gradual ice melting from –40 to –20 ° С.
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