Martian slope streaks as plausible indicators of transient water activity

Abstract Slope streaks have been frequently observed in the equatorial, low thermal inertia and dusty regions of Mars. The reason behind their formation remains unclear with proposed hypotheses for both dry and wet mechanisms. Here, we report an up-to-date distribution and morphometric investigation...

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Autores principales:	Anshuman Bhardwaj, Lydia Sam, F. Javier Martín-Torres, María-Paz Zorzano, Ricardo M. Fonseca
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/dbda4fb90d61409fb6241c67da00c0a1
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:dbda4fb90d61409fb6241c67da00c0a12021-12-02T15:06:18ZMartian slope streaks as plausible indicators of transient water activity10.1038/s41598-017-07453-92045-2322https://doaj.org/article/dbda4fb90d61409fb6241c67da00c0a12017-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07453-9https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Slope streaks have been frequently observed in the equatorial, low thermal inertia and dusty regions of Mars. The reason behind their formation remains unclear with proposed hypotheses for both dry and wet mechanisms. Here, we report an up-to-date distribution and morphometric investigation of Martian slope streaks. We find: (i) a remarkable coexistence of the slope streak distribution with the regions on Mars with high abundances of water-equivalent hydrogen, chlorine, and iron; (ii) favourable thermodynamic conditions for transient deliquescence and brine development in the slope streak regions; (iii) a significant concurrence of slope streak distribution with the regions of enhanced atmospheric water vapour concentration, thus suggestive of a present-day regolith-atmosphere water cycle; and (iv) terrain preferences and flow patterns supporting a wet mechanism for slope streaks. These results suggest a strong local regolith-atmosphere water coupling in the slope streak regions that leads to the formation of these fluidised features. Our conclusions can have profound astrobiological, habitability, environmental, and planetary protection implications.Anshuman BhardwajLydia SamF. Javier Martín-TorresMaría-Paz ZorzanoRicardo M. FonsecaNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Anshuman Bhardwaj Lydia Sam F. Javier Martín-Torres María-Paz Zorzano Ricardo M. Fonseca Martian slope streaks as plausible indicators of transient water activity
description	Abstract Slope streaks have been frequently observed in the equatorial, low thermal inertia and dusty regions of Mars. The reason behind their formation remains unclear with proposed hypotheses for both dry and wet mechanisms. Here, we report an up-to-date distribution and morphometric investigation of Martian slope streaks. We find: (i) a remarkable coexistence of the slope streak distribution with the regions on Mars with high abundances of water-equivalent hydrogen, chlorine, and iron; (ii) favourable thermodynamic conditions for transient deliquescence and brine development in the slope streak regions; (iii) a significant concurrence of slope streak distribution with the regions of enhanced atmospheric water vapour concentration, thus suggestive of a present-day regolith-atmosphere water cycle; and (iv) terrain preferences and flow patterns supporting a wet mechanism for slope streaks. These results suggest a strong local regolith-atmosphere water coupling in the slope streak regions that leads to the formation of these fluidised features. Our conclusions can have profound astrobiological, habitability, environmental, and planetary protection implications.
format	article
author	Anshuman Bhardwaj Lydia Sam F. Javier Martín-Torres María-Paz Zorzano Ricardo M. Fonseca
author_facet	Anshuman Bhardwaj Lydia Sam F. Javier Martín-Torres María-Paz Zorzano Ricardo M. Fonseca
author_sort	Anshuman Bhardwaj
title	Martian slope streaks as plausible indicators of transient water activity
title_short	Martian slope streaks as plausible indicators of transient water activity
title_full	Martian slope streaks as plausible indicators of transient water activity
title_fullStr	Martian slope streaks as plausible indicators of transient water activity
title_full_unstemmed	Martian slope streaks as plausible indicators of transient water activity
title_sort	martian slope streaks as plausible indicators of transient water activity
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/dbda4fb90d61409fb6241c67da00c0a1
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_version_	1718388546804383744

Martian slope streaks as plausible indicators of transient water activity

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