New orbiter data support an important role for seasonal frost—not liquid water—in the formation of Martian gullies.
erosion & weathering
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Minerals Hint at Liquid Groundwater, More Oxygen in Mars's Past
Manganese deposits in Gale Crater fractures are similar to Earth features that usually require flowing water and highly oxidizing conditions.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Reconstructing Catastrophic Floods on Earth and Mars
A new theoretical model suggests that ancient floods that carved canyons on Earth and Mars may have been much smaller but lasted longer than previously thought.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A Cluster of Water Seeps on Mars?
The discovery of dense concentrations of recurring flowlike features in two Valles Marineris chasms could aid in the search for life and influence future exploration of the Red Planet.
Posted inFeatures
Global Risks and Research Priorities for Coastal Subsidence
Some of the world's largest cities are sinking faster than the oceans are rising. Humans are part of the problem, but we can also be part of the solution through monitoring and modeling.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Carbon Dioxide Frost May Keep Martian Soil Dusty
Temperature readings acquired from orbit show that Mars's surface gets cold enough at night to allow layers of solid carbon dioxide frost up to several hundred micrometers thick to build up near the equator.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A River Runs Through It, but Why?
Researchers investigate the factors that cause river terraces to form.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Plunging into Waterfall Sediment Transport Modeling
A first-of-its-kind model describes how pools at the base of waterfalls adjust their depth to keep up with sediment flow.
Posted inScience Updates
Where Curiosity Has Taken Us
The Curiosity rover, one of NASA's flagship missions, analyzes Martian geology, geochemistry, climatology, and radiation to assess whether Mars could have supported microbial life.
Posted inNews
How Bat Breath and Guano Can Change the Shapes of Caves
Researchers working in caves in Borneo and elsewhere are finding evidence that biological processes shape many tropical caves by slowly eating away at surrounding rock.