Seasonal streams, traces of which were observed on Mars last year, really could consist of liquid water.

In spring and summer on the slope of the crater Newton appear mysterious dark bands. (Image from NASA / JPL-Caltech / Univ. of Arizona.)

Intriguing dark bands, seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, appear on some slopes in the summer months and disappear with the coming of winter. Their reason may be melting and subsequent evaporation frozen salt water, I think Vincent, Sewree from the University of Arkansas (USA) and his colleagues.

The researchers conducted a simulation of the behavior of water-salt mixture on the cold surface of Mars. (Salt, as it is known, may reduce the melting point.) Experiments have led scientists to conclude that the composition of the Martian water should be calcium chloride. It is this mixture that gave the desired result: the melting ice solution is not completely evaporated, leaving little fluid flow which could lead to the appearance of dark bands.

The result of this simulation also explains why the seasonal streaks appear on the slopes turned to the equator, and why spectrometry found no traces of water in such places (liquid evaporates very quickly).



There is plenty of evidence that billions of years ago, Mars was full of water (one of them received a Curiosity Rover recently, see the video below), but modern Red planet is dry and dusty. That's why the opening of seasonal flows caused such a stir. On Earth, water everywhere accompanies life. Even if on Mars appearance of water is seasonal, the chances of the existence of any life forms still rising.