2006 Lunar & Planetary Science Conference
The week before last was the big annual conference in planetary science, the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. I didn't have to go very far since it is hosted by the LPI (Lunar and Planetary Institute) in Houston, TX. There is always way too much stuff going on to really soak in. For some of the most detailed coverage of the event, check out Emily Lakdawalla's science blog over at the Planetary Society.
There were many highlights, but one talk in particular caught my attention. Given by L. Paul Knauth, it was titled "Impact Surge as the Simplest of the Proposed Hypotheses for the Origin of Sediments at the Opportunity Landing Site on Mars." Emily's blog gives a great summary of the talk and Q&A immediately following. Knauth and colleagues published an interesting paper in Nature recently where they proposed that the sedimentary deposits at the Meridiani landing site on Mars were deposited by a base surge from a large impact crater. This hypothesis is in direct conflict with the work of the MER (Mars Exploration Rover) science team, whom favor a playa lake formation for at least the upper portion of the deposits.
What does it matter, you might ask? Well, it matters a great deal. In the MER team view, water plays a big role. Since almost everywhere on Earth where there is liquid water, there is also life, this would imply that these deposits have the potential to presence biomarkers (traces of life). The impact surge hypothesis, in contrast, would imply little to no water shaping these deposits.
Neither hypothesis has been completely proved or disproved, in my opinion, but the weight of the evidence seems to tilt towards the team's explanation. But an interesting point to consider is how much NASA Mars missions are driven by investigating the role of water. To use a bad pun, NASA's science goals are saturated with the search for water-related activity. There is tremendous pressure on the team members to demonstrates that these missions have fulfilled the science objectives. NASA wants to tell the public that their money has been well spent. As a result, I think there may be a subtle or not-so subtle bias toward water-related explanations that permeates all of Martian science. It's kind of like in baseball where a tie goes to a runner. On Mars, the tie seems to go to the water-related explanation.
There were many highlights, but one talk in particular caught my attention. Given by L. Paul Knauth, it was titled "Impact Surge as the Simplest of the Proposed Hypotheses for the Origin of Sediments at the Opportunity Landing Site on Mars." Emily's blog gives a great summary of the talk and Q&A immediately following. Knauth and colleagues published an interesting paper in Nature recently where they proposed that the sedimentary deposits at the Meridiani landing site on Mars were deposited by a base surge from a large impact crater. This hypothesis is in direct conflict with the work of the MER (Mars Exploration Rover) science team, whom favor a playa lake formation for at least the upper portion of the deposits.
What does it matter, you might ask? Well, it matters a great deal. In the MER team view, water plays a big role. Since almost everywhere on Earth where there is liquid water, there is also life, this would imply that these deposits have the potential to presence biomarkers (traces of life). The impact surge hypothesis, in contrast, would imply little to no water shaping these deposits.
Neither hypothesis has been completely proved or disproved, in my opinion, but the weight of the evidence seems to tilt towards the team's explanation. But an interesting point to consider is how much NASA Mars missions are driven by investigating the role of water. To use a bad pun, NASA's science goals are saturated with the search for water-related activity. There is tremendous pressure on the team members to demonstrates that these missions have fulfilled the science objectives. NASA wants to tell the public that their money has been well spent. As a result, I think there may be a subtle or not-so subtle bias toward water-related explanations that permeates all of Martian science. It's kind of like in baseball where a tie goes to a runner. On Mars, the tie seems to go to the water-related explanation.
posted by Bradley Thomson at 10:27 AM
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