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RobertDyck

Moderator

From: Winnipeg, Canada

Registered: 2002-08-20

Posts: 7,930

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Re: When should we terraform

I wonder if the elliptical orbit affected the altitude of Mars terrain. Could it be that when Mars was wet, the north was warm enough to permit lakes and an ocean of liquid water, while the south barely melted? Could the lakes have washed soil into low cracks, causing lower average altitude? Once the lower altitude was started, liquid water would pour into it. Dust storms would blow everywhere, but dust would get cemented with snow in the south, while the north dried out permitting the dust to return to the air. If water accumulated in the north, it might cause increased weight so the crust would subside into the mantle, and the south would rise. But increased weight at lower altitude would require increased density. Would the accumulation of snow and dust be fluffy enough to reduce density sufficiently to affect continental sinking into the mantle? A warm Mars with water might have a thinner crust, so tectonic subsidence would be easier.

Once Mars started to freeze, the water would evaporate in the north and snow in the south. This would empty the northern ocean basin. It would also leave significant geologic stress; the north would be lower but also lighter without the water. The south would have the water, so it would be even higher than it was, and heavier. Would the crust have thickened to the point where tectonic subsidence can't occur any more, or is the northern basin rising? It would be interesting to check MGS-MOLA data over several years to see if there are any altitude changes.

Nirgal82

Banned

From: El Paso TX, USA

Registered: 2002-07-09

Posts: 112

Re: When should we terraform

I think the current Idea is that the "Great Escarpment" is receding in most places.  This is supported by the mesa fields along the escarpment. (Cydonia happens to be in this geologic setting which supports the face as a natural feature theory)<~~sorry had to throw that in

The Highlands around the border of the northern plains seem to be collapsing so that the net effect is the expansion of the northern plains. (could be why there's no or little evidence remaining of a shoreline, most of it may have crumbled away by now) This could be facilitated by the stress introduced by the emtying of the ocean basin either by freezing and sublimation or by seeping into the ground.

-Matt
by the way, this is my first post in more than 6 months, good to be back

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"...all matter is merely energy condensed into a slow vibration.  We are all one consiousness experiencing itself subjectively.  There is no such thing as death, life is only a dream and we are the imagination of ourselves."  -Bill Hicks

JammerG55

Member

From: Shasta lake ca, 7 hrs north of

Registered: 2004-02-18

Posts: 46

Re: When should we terraform

the reason that mars is not like earth is because it has not techtonic plates so the green house gasses have no way of recycling into the atmosphere. So if you place all of our factories on mars then the cf4s will cause a green houes effect which will warm up mars in less than 50 years and with that warming the water will come out of the ground and possibably cause evolution to restart on mars then it will cause the other gasses like N2 and O2 specifically to come out of the ground as well and make it a verry habitable place.

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The sky is the limit...unless you live in a cave

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: When should we terraform

RobertDyck,

Now that it's official (sea on Mars) your post merits some more discussing! (As Nirgal did)

Like the rising/subsiding parts on Earth, still doing after the last ice-age, this could give us an idea how much liquid water there was, and where it was located for a longer time...

Of course, it happened so long ago, the rising/falling will be much slower, MGS-MOLA,Mars Express... might have a hard job to see this minute change, if it is still on-going. And how would one interpred(sp?) this data?
Still, very interesing idea...

JammerG55,

50 years seems very fast, but who knows? Mars might be on the brink of a 'trigger' point, where very minute changes in it's temperature, atm. pressure could cause a chain-reaction... If so, it would be a very 'wild' period, i'd guess, massive storms etc...

dicktice

Member

From: Nova Scotia, Canada

Registered: 2002-11-01

Posts: 1,764

Re: When should we terraform

Terra-REforming (as I think we might be justified in expressing the process, now) just might not take as long as we were inclined to believe only a few months ago. The latest "salt sea" findings make the rovers, I have been panning as being inconsequential up to now, seem worth the effort. Full marks, too, should go to the mission planners who decided on the region where "Opportunity" grounded--and to Murphy (of Murphy's Law fame) for looking the other way with respect to that lucky hole-in-one landing site! Great stuff, indeed.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 29,431

Re: When should we terraform

shifting topic to repair

with many others in this folder