spacetoday.net: Mars gullies show signs of recent flowing water

Mars gullies show signs of recent flowing water

Posted: Wed, Mar 4, 2009, 7:46 AM ET (1246 GMT)
Mars gully depositional fan (Brown Univ.)

A gully system on Mars appears to have been created by flowing water relatively recently in the planet's history, scientists reported this week. The system, found in a crater in the planet's mid-southern latitudes by a camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, appears to have been created as recently as 1.25 million years, very recently on geological timescales. Planetary scientists believe the gullies were created by snow and ice deposits that melted, creating brief periods of liquid, flowing water on the surface. Gullies have been spotted in crater walls in the past, but have been linked in some cases to processes that don't require flowing water.