The enigmas of mars(19) > 화 성

COLOSSAL WATERFALLS

TURNED SOLID

As you can see in the above first image from MGS MOC strip M11-00111, this will no doubt be regarded as some of the most striking looking evidence to come from Mars. It is strange and fantastic looking but the real question is, what is it evidence of?

In the above 200% closer view of the same anomalous objects seen in my above first image, you can see that the individual ropey forms better that constitute each mass actually tends to give out some as it reaches the lower level terrain, or at least grows no larger. Near the bottom and over the distance of this great height, any given water volume gradually looses more of its sediment load in the upper areas so that it has less to deposit out in the lower areas. The water that reaches the bottom is simply absorbed into the terrain or evaporated off from a catch system we can't see within or under the base. Further, this process can be assisted by daily thawing and refreezing of the water in the downward flow process over long periods of time prolonging contact time and therefore assisting build up.

Now for the above fourth image from a different but nearby location in the same strip. Here again the scene is rotated 90º to the more familiar upright position. I've included this scene because it demonstrates the presence of both the
waterfall water weep ropey strand forms along the slope in the upper areas of the image as well as the presence of
dark tinted Ridge Forms in the mid and lower levels. Note that all this evidence is oriented in the same vertical direction and all of this scene represents a slope down from the top areas to the bottom down which shallow liquid surface
water flows.

Now, just so you will understand that the M11-00111 strip evidence is not some kind of strange lone aberration representative of little on Mars, my above fifth image as drawn from the different MOC E15-00946 strip in a completely different locale demonstrates another example of these ropey stranded waterfall forms. Note that this scene is even more distant in resolution and it took a 200% zoom factor to give even this very distant look at this evidence. The sharp demarcation line you see between light and dark on the forms near their base area appears at first to be probable shadow cast from a rim ridge line that partially surrounds in an arch the waterfall forms to our left of them. Because of this, their bottom base areas are hidden in this dark area.

One aspect of the evidence that can really be seen better here, even at this much greater distancing over the previous strip, is water erosion channels cut out of the terrain above the waterfall forms which clearly feeds them. In fact, the very broadest of the erosion channels feeding the largest right most waterfall form is especially self evident and is one of the main reasons I chose this particular strip so that there can be no question as to this feed process. Here again I suspect that the light color higher albedo terrain immediately above the waterfall forms that is clearly having channels cut in it by liquid flows may be old sediment heavy dirty appearing water ice rather than true rock or earth alone.

However, you should also take special note of the presence of the dark ridge forms occupying most of the lower left quadrant of the terrain of this image. This ridge form evidence again confirms the presence of shallow water flowing down this broad area and that water is present in this terrain whether we can directly see it or not. Note how the ridge forms go right up to the edge of the rim that is turn suppose to be casting a shadow on the waterfall form's base areas. The presence of the ridge forms right up to this point indicates that water is probably spilling over this rim from the trough depression system at the base of the waterfall forms and traveling down the slope the ridge forms occupy. That implies that this rim may not actually be high enough to cast a shadow on the waterfall forms bases and may in fact be dark tinted liquid in a trough catch system at the base of the waterfall forms.