A new scientific study claims that water may be responsible for carving out the dark streaks seen on the surface of Mars. Raw Story reports: A team from France, Britain and the United States constructed models and simulated Mars conditions to follow up on a 2015 study which proffered “the strongest evidence yet” for liquid water — a prerequisite for life — on the Red Planet. That finding had left many scientists scratching their heads as the low pressure of Mars’ atmosphere means that water does not survive long in liquid form. It either boils or freezes. Identifying water on the Red Planet is complicated by our limited understanding of natural processes under conditions so different to those on Earth. In September last year, a team reported in the journal Nature Geoscience that curious lines running down slopes on the Martian surface in “summer” may be streaks of super-salty brine. They said they had found evidence in the lines of “hydrated” salt minerals, which require water for their creation. The lines, up to a few hundred metres in length and typically under five metres (16 feet) wide, appear on slopes during warm seasons, lengthen, then fade as they cool. “Under [...]
