The unexplained erosion of Martian rocks is believed to be caused by acid fog, based on the new evidence scientists found by NASA's space probe Spirit. Scant water mixed with acidic vapors from the volcanoes is the possible way how this acid fog in Mars was formed.
A scientist from Ithaca College Shoshanna Cole analysed the effects of acid fog by incorporating a number of data gathered by Spirit. "I look at the geology with all of the instruments data sets. Different instruments give different information," she said. Her study provided substantial proof for acid fog erosion on Mars.
Photos and information showing dissolved places on Mars were captured by the Spirit. Although the probe is now out of commission, cross-examination of the data it collected made way for continuous new revelation about the planet.
The acid fog in the Red Planet appears to be a result of gel formation of a rock surface that has melted the sharp crystalline texture of rocks. "A lot of people have talked about weathering that would occur on Mars," Ralph Milliken said, a planetary scientist from Brown University. Experts have created models of fogs eating Martian rocks even though no solid evidence has been found yet. "This (new work) is consistent with some of these models."
The model presented by Cole formed a solid case that dissolving of rock surfaces on Martian rocks on the surface of Cumberland Ridge and Husband Hill, in the Columbia Hills of Gusev Crater, also known as the "Watchtower Class," is due to the acidic vapors. It might also be the reason for the Red Planet's thin air and cold conditions. She presented her work at the annual meeting of the Geological Survey of America in Baltimore, Maryland on Nov. 2.
