On Thu, 29 Jan 2004 07:29:55 -0600, "Paul F. Dietz"
wrote:

Cardman wrote:

As far as I am aware there has been no evidence for if this hydrogen
trace of water is in solid of liquid form. Most scientists assume that
it is in the form of solid ice due to the very cold nature of Mars.

And due to the fact that liquid water is physically impossible
under those conditions.

That would be nice had they understood the nature of the environment,
but the soil is a big unknown, where the much more studied atmosphere
is capable of the more than a few surprises.

Unless you have an explanation of how there can be so much detected
water in the few meters of top soil, despite the low pressure problem,
then there is more than one possible explanation.

Even then this ice should not exist in the very top of the Martian
soil due to the low pressure evaporation problem.

Nonsense. If the relative humidity above the ice is 100% then
the ice can remain stable indefinitely, even if the atmospheric
pressure is quite low.

And the odds of 100% humidity? Not very high at all I would say, which
is why I previous said that it would be only a very brief early
morning phenomenon.

As you certainly won't be explaining some of this water volume in the
soil using this idea, when it simply cannot last very long.

One idea to consider is that below the soil you could well have
greater atmospheric density in trapped pockets containing liquid or
ice water, maybe even between individual grains, where certainly there
could well be warmth obtained from both above and below.

Water is not going to exist in liquid form at a depth that
the neutron detectors can see (over most of the martian surface).

Excluding the possible chance of warmer water rising from deep within
the ground.

Want to have a shot at explaining those slopes that have water-like
trails running down the slope? After all some people would claim that
these were made by running water.

Cardman
http://www.cardman.com
http://www.cardman.co.uk