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/sci/ - Science & Math

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5098443 No.5098443 [Reply] [Original]

>The science team behind the Mars Curiosity rover has announced that some of the images it has taken reveal signs of a significant water flow at some point in the planet's past. Although there have been numerous indications of water in Mars' past, the discovery provides a unique opportunity to understand the precise environment in which the watery deposits formed.
>The deposits look strikingly similar to some found on Earth, in which rounded rocks, carried by currents, settle into a stream bed and are locked into a conglomerate. The rounded shapes show that the rocks were worn by transport over long distances, while the size of the rocks is too large for them to have been brought there by wind. The flows seem to have been sizable, too. "From the size of gravels it carried, we can interpret the water was moving about 3 feet per second, with a depth somewhere between ankle and hip deep," said Berkeley's William Dietrich in the JPL's release.
http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/09/curiosity-finds-ancient-stream-bed-on-mars/

>> No.5098447
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5098447

dat ancient Martian creek

>> No.5098458
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5098458

This set of images compares the Link outcrop of rocks on Mars (left) with similar rocks seen on Earth (right). The image of Link, obtained by NASA's Curiosity rover, shows rounded gravel fragments, or clasts, up to a couple inches (few centimeters), within the rock outcrop. Erosion of the outcrop results in gravel clasts that fall onto the ground, creating the gravel pile at left. The outcrop characteristics are consistent with a sedimentary conglomerate, or a rock that was formed by the deposition of water and is composed of many smaller rounded rocks cemented together. A typical Earth example of sedimentary conglomerate formed of gravel fragments in a stream is shown on the right.

An annotated version of the image highlights a piece of gravel that is about 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) across. It was selected as an example of coarse size and rounded shape. Rounded grains (of any size) occur by abrasion in sediment transport, by wind or water, when the grains bounce against each other. Gravel fragments are too large to be transported by wind. At this size, scientists know the rounding occurred in water transport in a stream.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16189.html

>> No.5098478

Shit looks like Arizona yo. There ain't no way we're gonna find anything other than a few lazy spics there.

>> No.5098505
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5098505

Fuck yeah

>> No.5098523

>>5098458
Actually, if you examine the block of rock in that picture, it looks more like a piece of concrete with some gravel in it. So, forget about water on Mars. This is bigger, that rock must be the product of an advanced civilisation, even though one from the past.

>> No.5098536

>>5098505
>tfw they all browse reddit

>> No.5098570

>>5098536
Does /sci/ really strike you as a good place for professionals to openly discuss their work?

>> No.5098586

>>5098570
No, but why reddit?

>> No.5098633

Ah ya. This is just along the rover's journey too. It's still got a lot of time and a lot of other places to visit too, so I'm excited to see what else it might find on it's travels.

>> No.5098895

>>5098586
It's a popular website with a format conducive to such questioning.
I mean, I hate reddit for a bunch of reasons, but really is good for activities like that.