Why Mars has no surface water and no magnetic field. By Chris Landau
Mons Olympus on Mars, the volcano that brings droughts and floods.
I posted an abbreviated article on February 3, 2012 on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory blog site at http://blogs.jpl.nasa.gov/ on http://blogs.jpl.nasa.gov/author/smrekar/ , written by Sue Smrekar. dated Tuesday May 19 th , 2009 The title of the original article was Got Water? My blog reply there awaits moderation.
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter shows gully channels in a crater in the southern highlands of Mars.The
gullies emanating from the rocky cliffs near the crater's rim (upper left) show
meandering and braided patterns typical of water-carved channels. Image credit:
So I publish an expanded explanation here on OPED NEWS as to why I believe we see so many river channels on Mars, but see no surface water on that planet. I believe the following events need to happen in order to terraform Mars.
What Mars needs to give us continual surface water are the following criteria:
- Active volcanism to release large amounts of water vapor and carbon dioxide from the volcanic eruptions into the atmosphere.
- Continental drift or subduction zones. Recycling of the carbon dioxide into the Martian surface. This can only be accomplished by planetary spin and internal heat from solar magnetic induction. Heating of the planet by radioactive decay is obviously not taking place. So we have planetary spin, but no magnetic field coupling--decoupling induction heating. Why not?
A magnetic field to create "Van Allen
Belts." lowering of the height of
- Once the "Van Allen Belts", those large scale planetary electro magnetic fields have restarted, hydrogen ions will be trapped on the planet and can combine with the released oxygen to form more surface water. Heating of the planet by magnetic field spin coupling-uncoupling induction with the sun and other planetary bodies, will heat the planetary core, cause volcanism and continental drift and start and create an active hydrological cycle. Large lightning storms will help ionize atoms and combine these atoms to form new molecules such as water, sulphates, sulphites, nitrates and nitrites, sulphuric, nitric and hydrochloric acid and carbonic acid. A more robust and chemically active planet can then be set in motion, with chemical and physical cycles of erosion and deposition.
When trying to understand a planet, look at the biggest feature that stands out, and you will be able to work backwards to find the reasons why things are the way they are.