In a recent study, scientists have discovered that Mars is experiencing Marsquakes that keep the planet seismically active.
A team of ten scientists in a recent research published in Advances in science say the the planet also contains the mysterious Sloae Lineae (RSL) which has received attention and curiosity from various scientists over the years. These RSLs are similar to landslides on Mars but the cause of the landslides is not known even now.
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“We see them from orbit with the dark streaks they make on the ground and they tend to always occur on solar-facing slopes, which made geologists think that they are related to early ice melting, “said Bishop, a senior research scientist at the SETI Institute in California.
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It has also been observed that these usually occur in areas with very little ice. “The interesting thing is that they increase over months after dust storms and then fade away, and they seem to appear again and again in the same regions. A large number of these also form in the equatorial part of Mars, where there is little ice, “the Bishop explained.
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The current study extends this observation with a near-surface cryosalt activity model based on site observation and laboratory experiments.
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The Earth, too, has witnessed similar events in areas such as the Atacama desert in Chile, parts of Antarctica and the Dead Sea. Scientists have found that landslides and surface collapse have occurred in these regions when salts interact with water or sulfates.
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“Antarctica and the Atacama are good analogs for Mars because they are ultra dry environments,” the Bishop explained. “Antarctica has the added benefit of being extremely cold. Parts of Antarctica include the Mars-equivalent Beacon Valley for temperature and atmosphere.”
Using the same logic, the study suggests that the RSL means that there is natural salt and ice on the red planet beneath its surface.
The team also conducted experiments reproducing the behavior of chlorine salts and sulfates, including gypsum, under low temperature just like in Mars to show how interconnected these salts are.