Water
The table below discusses the presence of water on
Earth and Mars.
Earth
Water erosional features on Earth. Click on image for full
size (55K jpeg)
75% of our planet is covered with water, and our
environment is
full of evidence of the dramatic impact liquid water has on the surface of
the Earth. One clear impact is that running
water carves channels, rivers, and canyons. The picture above shows an
example of water erosion around a rock. The water has cut a channel in
the soil, leaving characteristic patterns. |
Mars
This is a view of Tiu Vallis.
Click on image for full size (55K jpeg)
Image courtesy of NASA
We don't know if it was running water, or some other
liquid. But the
features on the ground here on Mars look like what remains after a liquid
flowed by on Earth. Many other images of Mars show features that are
reminiscent of those produced on Earth by running water. However, we
know that there is not any liquid water on the surface of Mars now.
Water on Mars is thought to be trapped in the soil or in the atmosphere
as either ice or gas. |