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NASA Observations Point to ‘Dry Ice’ Snowfall on Mars

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data have given scientists the clearest evidence yet of carbon-dioxide snowfalls on Mars. This reveals the only known example of carbon-dioxide snow falling anywhere in our solar system.

Frozen carbon dioxide, better known as “dry ice,” requires temperatures of about minus 193 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 125 Celsius), which is much colder than needed for freezing water. Carbon-dioxide snow reminds scientists that although some parts of Mars may look quite Earth-like, the Red Planet is very different. The report is being published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. (more…)

UCLA Scientist Discovers Plate Tectonics on Mars

By Guest PostAugust 10, 2012Sciencean yin, california, canyons, context camera, dead sea, death valley, deformation, egg shell, fault motion, fault system, geological phenomenon, google mars, grand canyon, high resolution, himalayas, hirise, lithosphere, mariner valleys, mars, mola, NASA, planetary geologist, plate tectonics, reconnaissance orbiter, san andreas fault, science team, surface of mars, themis, tibet, ucla, valles marineris

For years, many scientists had thought that plate tectonics existed nowhere in our solar system but on Earth. Now, a UCLA scientist has discovered that the geological phenomenon, which involves the movement of huge crustal plates beneath a planet’s surface, also exists on Mars.

“Mars is at a primitive stage of plate tectonics. It gives us a glimpse of how the early Earth may have looked and may help us understand how plate tectonics began on Earth,” said An Yin, a UCLA professor of Earth and space sciences and the sole author of the new research. (more…)

Tag Archives: reconnaissance orbiter

NASA Observations Point to ‘Dry Ice’ Snowfall on Mars

UCLA Scientist Discovers Plate Tectonics on Mars