Researchers Blame Melting Snow & Salt For Landslides On Mars

In a recent study, scientists have revealed that Mars is experiencing Marsquakes which is keeping the planet seismically active.

A team of ten scientists in recent research published in Science Advances say the planet also has mysterious Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL) which gained attention and curiosity from various scientists over the years. These RSL are similar to landslides on Mars but the cause of these landslides is unknown even now.

Reuters

"We see them from orbit by the dark streaks they produce on the ground and they tend to always occur on sun-facing slopes, which led geologists to think they were related to melting ice early on," Bishop, a senior research scientist at the SETI Institute in California said.

Also Read: Humans Will Be On Mars In Just Over Five Years, Says Elon Musk In ClubHouse

It has also been observed that these mainly take place in areas with little ice. "The interesting thing is that they increase over months following dust storms and then fade away, and they appear to form repeatedly in the same regions. Also, a large number of these are forming in the equatorial part of Mars, where there is very little ice," Bishop explained.

Reuters

The current study widens this observation with a near-surface cryosalt activity model based on field observations and lab experiments.

Also Read: You Can Spot Uranus In The Sky Tonight, Between Mars and Moon: Here's How

Earth, too, has seen some similar happenings in areas such as the Atacama desert in Chile, parts of Antarctica and the Dead Sea. Scientists have observed that landslides and surface collapse have occurred in these regions when salt interacts with water or sulfates.

summarizer.co

"Antarctica and the Atacama are excellent analogs for Mars because they are ultra dry environments," Bishop explained. "Antarctica has the added benefit that it is super cold. Parts of Antarctica including Beacon Valley are actually on par with Mars for temperature and aridity."

Applying the same logic, the study suggests that the RSL means that the red planet contains natural salts and ice underneath its surface.

The team also ran experiments replicating the behaviour of chlorine salts and sulfates, including gypsum, under low temperatures just like in Mars to demonstrate how interrelated these salts are.