possible explanation for Martian gullies
Hi Friends, What if the water/permafrost explanations about gullies are wrong? Looking at the "gummy" looking soil exposed by the Spirit rover and the airbag drag marks, and hearing the reports that there's no appreciable moisture, reinforces my notion that the gullies may have a non-H2O explanation. The soil around Spirit is extremely fine but cohesive, and some scientists have attributed the cohesion to electrostatic properties of the dust. Maybe its iron content and the enormous friction created by incessant high winds blowing dust around have given it an electrical stickiness. In that case, I can imagine whole fields of sticky dust cascading down a steep slope and behaving much like water. Only it's not water, it's sticky dust. Anyone like to comment on that idea? Best wishes, Joe
Joe, this would be an experiment easily performed in your garage, and the resulting paper just might get published if you designed the experiment well. Besides building replica Martian gullies, you could probably model it on the computer. Both methods would make for a complete investigation. Get some "et al" help and go for it! C. --- Joe Bauman <bau@desnews.com> wrote:
Hi Friends, What if the water/permafrost explanations about gullies are wrong?
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Im no chemist or geologist, but it sounds worth looking into to me, at least! The fact that the experiments could be done "on the cheap" makes it almost imperative. You may want to do some searches and see if there hasn't been something done already along these lines. C. --- Joe Bauman <bau@desnews.com> wrote:
Nahh, too lazy .... But thanks for the wonderful comment! -- Joe
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participants (2)
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Chuck Hards -
Joe Bauman