About Mars rocks...

I've seen the photos over the years of the Martian surface....
It seems strange that rocks are just "all over the place" - large and
small. Wouldn't millions and millions of years have smoothed
everything out?

Kevin Miller wrote:
I've seen the photos over the years of the Martian surface....
It seems strange that rocks are just "all over the place" - large and
small. Wouldn't millions and millions of years have smoothed
everything out?

I'm not sure, but I think the thing is that Mars is not geologically
active. (Or should that be, "not areographically active"?) No plate
tectonics, no active vulcanism, no Marsquakes--this makes for a relatively
stable surface. The only active process would be erosion. But the air
on Mars is so thin that even though the winds run at hundreds of kilometers
per hour, they can't actually erode the rocks very well (certainly not
compared to winds of high-speed winds on the Earth).

In fact, the observation that rocks that would be broken down by long-term
contact with water are still intact suggests that water at the surface was
a generally short-lived phenomenon on Mars. In that case, some alternative
mechanism for the widespread rust must be found.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

Kevin Miller wrote:
I've seen the photos over the years of the Martian surface....
It seems strange that rocks are just "all over the place" - large and
small. Wouldn't millions and millions of years have smoothed
everything out?

I'm not sure, but I think the thing is that Mars is not geologically
active. (Or should that be, "not areographically active"?) No plate
tectonics, no active vulcanism, no Marsquakes--this makes for a relatively
stable surface. The only active process would be erosion. But the air
on Mars is so thin that even though the winds run at hundreds of kilometers
per hour, they can't actually erode the rocks very well (certainly not
compared to winds of high-speed winds on the Earth).

In fact, the observation that rocks that would be broken down by long-term
contact with water are still intact suggests that water at the surface was
a generally short-lived phenomenon on Mars. In that case, some alternative
mechanism for the widespread rust must be found.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

Kevin Miller wrote:
I've seen the photos over the years of the Martian surface....
It seems strange that rocks are just "all over the place" - large and
small. Wouldn't millions and millions of years have smoothed
everything out?

I'm not sure, but I think the thing is that Mars is not geologically
active. (Or should that be, "not areographically active"?) No plate
tectonics, no active vulcanism, no Marsquakes--this makes for a relatively
stable surface. The only active process would be erosion. But the air
on Mars is so thin that even though the winds run at hundreds of kilometers
per hour, they can't actually erode the rocks very well (certainly not
compared to winds of high-speed winds on the Earth).

In fact, the observation that rocks that would be broken down by long-term
contact with water are still intact suggests that water at the surface was
a generally short-lived phenomenon on Mars. In that case, some alternative
mechanism for the widespread rust must be found.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

I've seen the photos over the years of the Martian surface....
It seems strange that rocks are just "all over the place" - large and
small. Wouldn't millions and millions of years have smoothed
everything out?


The rocky landscape on Mars looks VERY much like landscapes (minus any =
plantlife) that i'm familiar with in the southern Calif desert. Rocks of =
varying sizes scattered randomly. Why would Mars be different than Earth =
in having rocks all over the place?

-Florian at stargazing dot com

I've seen the photos over the years of the Martian surface....
It seems strange that rocks are just "all over the place" - large and
small. Wouldn't millions and millions of years have smoothed
everything out?


The rocky landscape on Mars looks VERY much like landscapes (minus any =
plantlife) that i'm familiar with in the southern Calif desert. Rocks of =
varying sizes scattered randomly. Why would Mars be different than Earth =
in having rocks all over the place?

-Florian at stargazing dot com

I've seen the photos over the years of the Martian surface....
It seems strange that rocks are just "all over the place" - large and
small. Wouldn't millions and millions of years have smoothed
everything out?


The rocky landscape on Mars looks VERY much like landscapes (minus any =
plantlife) that i'm familiar with in the southern Calif desert. Rocks of =
varying sizes scattered randomly. Why would Mars be different than Earth =
in having rocks all over the place?

-Florian at stargazing dot com

This is a picture i took in southern Calif near the border with =
Mexico...

http://www.stargazing.com/photos/030926/009.jpg

Imagine it with an orange tint and without the plants... You'd have =
Mars! ;-)


-Florian at stargazing dot com

This is a picture i took in southern Calif near the border with =
Mexico...

http://www.stargazing.com/photos/030926/009.jpg

Imagine it with an orange tint and without the plants... You'd have =
Mars! ;-)


-Florian at stargazing dot com

This is a picture i took in southern Calif near the border with =
Mexico...

http://www.stargazing.com/photos/030926/009.jpg

Imagine it with an orange tint and without the plants... You'd have =
Mars! ;-)


-Florian at stargazing dot com