{"id":40844,"date":"2025-02-21T21:30:08","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T20:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ig.cas.cz\/?p=40844"},"modified":"2025-02-25T10:30:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T09:30:07","slug":"martian-mud-flows-a-little-salt-makes-a-big-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ig.cas.cz\/en\/martian-mud-flows-a-little-salt-makes-a-big-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Martian mud flows: a little salt makes a big difference"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the northern lowlands of Mars, there are thousands of small cones that scientists believe were formed tens to hundreds of millions of years ago by mud flowing from underground.<\/strong> Mud on the surface of Mars behaves very differently to what we see on Earth due to the extremely low atmospheric pressure, which makes liquid water unstable. Until now, it has been unclear how the presence of various salts and their amounts change the properties of mud in the Martian environment. An international team of scientists led by Ond\u0159ej Kr\u00fdza from the Geophysical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences focused on investigating these processes in experiments \u2014 now published in the journal, Communications: Earth & Environment<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Due to the extremely low atmospheric pressure (less than 1% that on Earth), liquid water is not found on the surface of the red planet. Therefore, it is difficult to predict how mud, a mixture of water and fine-grained rock fragments, would behave. These are Martian equivalents of the mud volcanoes seen on Earth. To investigate how salts and their amounts affect mud flow, we used a unique low-pressure chamber at the Open University in the UK.<\/p>\n

“Our experiments help explain the paradox of how mud volcanoes exist on the surface of Mars when conditions do not generally allow mud to remain in a liquid state. While on the surface of Earth, mixing salts into the mud does not fundamentally change the appearance of a mud volcano, it will be different on Mars<\/em>,” explains Ond\u0159ej Kr\u00fdza, the lead author of the study. He adds, “We assumed that with increasing salt content, the mud mixtures would be able to flow further because the mixture would remain liquid longer. But we were surprised that the appearance of the mud flows also changed significantly with the change in salt and its concentration, and the reach of the flows may even decrease with a higher salt content.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

The results of this study suggest that on Mars different salts and their concentrations will lead to the formation of mud flows that will differ significantly from each other. Their shapes may resemble long strands of lava, wide pools, or short and fragmented lobes. The colour of the surface also changes, which may help in identifying mud structures from satellite observations.<\/p>\n

\u201cSalts can significantly change not only the temperature at which water in the mud begins to boil and freeze but also its flow properties. The relationship between these factors is completely different at low pressure than in terrestrial conditions,” <\/em>adds V\u011bra P\u011bnkavov\u00e1 from the Institute of Chemical Processes of the Czech Academy of Sciences, a co-author of the study.<\/p>\n

Salts are increasingly being detected by remote sensing not only on the surface of Mars but also on other bodies in the Solar System such as the dwarf planet, Ceres, where liquid water probably reached the surface in the past. Here, as well as on the large icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, it is assumed that a mixture of water, ammonia, hydrocarbons, and salts flowed to the surface in a process known as \u2018cryo-volcanism\u2019. These could be an important host for potential microbial life forms. Hence, understanding the fundamentals of how salt-rich mixtures spread may play a crucial role in the search for life in the Solar System.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

More info:<\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ond\u0159ej Kr\u00fdza, Ph.D. \u2013 first author<\/p>\n

kryza@ig.cas.cz<\/a><\/p>\n

V\u011bra P\u011bnkavov\u00e1, Ph.D. \u2013 co-author<\/p>\n

penkavova@icpf.cas.cz<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Link to the original article:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ond\u0159ej Kr\u00fdza, Petr Bro\u017e, Mark Fox-Powell, V\u011bra P\u011bnkavov\u00e1 et al.:<\/p>\n

Small amounts of dissolved salt increases the mobility of mud flows on Mars and other extra-terrestrial bodies<\/p>\n

https:\/\/rdcu.be\/d94bF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Associated movie:<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/jqozzfqYOb4\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Related images:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Figure 1: One of the smaller cones of Dashgil mud volcano in Azerbaijan. (PHOTO: Petr Bro\u017e)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Figure 2: Possible mud flow on Martian surface. Captured from\u00a0Bro\u017e et al. (2019).<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Figure 3: A view of the low-pressure chamber at the Open University (UK) where the mud experiments were conducted. The chamber makes it possible to reduce the atmospheric pressure to values prevailing on the surface of Mars in a few minutes. PHOTO: Petr Bro\u017e<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Figure 4: An example of the shape of mud flows with differing salt concentrations (specifically, MgSO4<\/sub> at concentrations of 0.5% and 10%). With higher salt content, the reach of the flow increases, but the flow pattern and colour also change.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Figure 5: Explanation of the changing behaviour of mud with increasing salt content. If the concentration is low, the mud freezes more easily. If the salt content is higher, the viscosity of the mud and its freezing point decrease. However, if the mud is “saturated” with salt, its viscosity increases. Therefore, the mud flows less easily, but freezes significantly later.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ond\u0159ej Kr\u00fdza (PHOTO: Miroslava Mach\u00e1\u010dkov\u00e1)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the northern lowlands of Mars, there are thousands of small cones that scientists believe were formed tens to hundreds of millions of years ago by mud flowing from underground. 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