Burns Cliff Erosion

 

This picture of Burns Cliff sure looks like erosion from something going down the cliff.  Seems like cornice avalanches could explain it.  However, perhaps sand storms lift sand to the top and slides down and causes such erosion.

We were right, Cornice Avalanches on Mars

 

Text for video below: "Every spring the sun shines on the side of the stack of layers at the North Pole of Mars known as the north polar layered deposits. The warmth destabilizes the ice and blocks break loose. When they reach the bottom of the more than 500 meter tall cliff face, the blocks kick up a cloud of dust."

 

 

 At 2:13 in the video you can see the linear trails from ice sliding down.  We were right that it is ice from cornices sliding down.   We were years ahead of NASA.  :-)

 

It would be nice to show that ice is accumulating as a cornice, but if this is still going on every spring after millions of years, ice must be accumulating near the top of the cliff, which is almost the definition of a cornice. 

Dusty Snow on Mars

 

 

Picture after Pheonix lander dug in snow/dirt.

 

Martian snow is dusty, could potentially melt, new study shows

I still don't think you get running water, but you could get  Cornice Avalanches on Mars.

 

Recent Articles on Mars

 

Mars' dark streaks are probably caused by dry landslides

By Mike Wall about 1 month ago

"The evidence continues to mount.

These characteristics led scientists to speculate that the dark marks could be caused by salty liquid water flowing or seeping through the red dirt, in spots that get warm enough for some of Mars' plentiful subsurface ice to melt. That exciting hypothesis got a boost in 2015, when data gathered by MRO's Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer instrument, or CRISM, revealed the apparent signature of hydrated salts at some RSL locales. That's just what you'd expect to see after briny liquid had evaporated away.

But the liquid-water explanation has been losing favor over the last few years. "

 

Full Article Here

 

Still think the Cornice Avalanches on Mars hypothesis is the best.  :-)

 

 

Helicopter on Mars could investigate RSLs.

 

"4Recurring Slope Lineae:RSL are special regions that are difficult to explore without danger of contamination. However, a helicopter could fly or hover over RSL without touching them. Spectral properties, daily changes and the timing of appearance and fading behaviors, and nearby moisture and wind content could all reveal the true nature of these enigmatic features."

Full Article Here

Exploring RSLs a High Priority

"•Mars 2020 can acquire valuable new knowledge about RSL–Can image through all times of day, so wetting and drying soil should be obvious. MRO can only observe near 3 PM, the driest time of day.–If rover can get close enough for SuperCamto acquire compositional data, that would be extremely valuable–MEDA data near RSL site would be very valuable to understand origin of water 

•Understanding RSL may be key to future human exploration–They need water to survive, and equatorial landing sites are best for thermal management•No known shallow ice in equatorial regions, so RSL are best candidate indicators of water•If origin of RSL water is atmospheric, do these sites show where it is easiest to extract water from the atmosphere?•If RSL water is from the subsurface, then habitability is more favorable 

•In conclusion, Mars 2020 landing near an RSL site would be most excellent for Mars science and future exploration"

 

 Full Article Here

 

Video showing dust and ice avalanche on Mars.

Getting closer and closer.  Looks a lot like RSLs in capture from above video.  Click to expand.

Rover sees ice sublimate

 

This video shows ice sublimating in an area scooped out by the rover over 4 days.   With this much ice in 4 days I think "Cornice Avalanches on Mars" looks good.

 

 

So H2O is going into the atmosphere on Mars

This article talks about how H2O is getting into the atmosphere on Mars.

Flows of granular material - not flowing water

New research:

This new research finds that these RSL features are flows of granular material and thus, align with the long-standing hypothesis that the surface of Mars lacks flowing water.

They can tell by how the RSLs stop after the slope is not as steep that it is granular material sliding down the hill and not flowing water.  So they have the "avalanche" part right even though they are not using that word yet. 

They still don't understand the how and why of the avalanche.  If the path has H2O in it then there is frozen H2O sliding down the hill.  In order to get RSLs  year after year somehow frozen H2O is carried to the tops of mountains.   We think that the atmosphere is making frost or snow that is blown up one side and collects just past the peak where the peak blocks the wind.  On Earth we call this  collection of snow a "cornice".  Then when things warm up it makes an avalanche.  So other investigators have not yet settled on the "cornice" part of our answer.    

However, it seems they are getting closer and closer and that in another two years it will be clear that "cornice avalanches on mars" is the right answer.  Will keep updating this blog.