[SextonBlake]

Finger-like features visible in images from Mars may be streams of salty water spilling over the rims of craters, scientists believe. The puzzling clusters of dark lines fade in winter and reappear in the spring.

Pictures taken by the American space agency Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft showed the markings on several steep slopes south of the Martian equator. ‘The best explanation we have for these observations so far is flow of briny water, although this study does not prove that,’ said co-author Dr Alfred McEwen, from the University of Arizona.

The water may not necessarily be flowing over the ground, according to the scientists. Some clues suggest it could be buried but affecting the surface to make it appear dark. Saltiness lowers the temperature at which water freezes. This means seasonal salty liquid water could exist in mid-latitude regions of Mars, despite the chilliness of the planet's ‘warm’ season.


http://www.dailymail...rved-water.html

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