- ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland
-- Canadian scientists have found some intriguing similarities between
grooves caused by icebergs and marks on the surface of the Red Planet.
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- Chris Woodworth-Lynas normally sets his sights on the
ocean floor, studying how icebergs scour the seabed. Oil and gas companies
need the information to lay down pipelines.
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- After work, Woodworth-Lynas and a colleague applied their
skills to Mars.
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- "There has been theories that there was perhaps
an ocean or series of oceans in the north polar regions," said Woodworth-Lynas.
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- When Woodworth-Lynas downloaded NASA's orbital photos
of Mars from 1997, he was able to resolve features. On their own time,
he and a colleague thought they spotted scour marks and published the idea.
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- It touched off a debate on whether the marks were made
by lava or ice.
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- "If these were formed by icebergs these would be
very interesting," said Lazslo Keszthelyi of the U.S. Geological Survey
in Flagstaff, Ariz. "It would mean that large areas of Mars in the
relatively recent past were covered with water and a layer of ice on top
of that, and that ice was actually breaking up and moving around."
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- Keszthelyi is in charge of the camera for the next orbiter
mission to Mars. He is so impressed that he will make sure the lens is
aimed at the potential scour marks.
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- NASA almost missed them. Newfoundland is one of the few
places where offshore oil and gas intersect with the reality of icebergs
for experts to study.
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- Woodworth-Lynas said the ocean troughs he sees are full
of sea life. If the Martian ones are troughs too, he said they may be the
best place to look for fossilized signs of past life.
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- - Written by CBC News Online staff Copyright © CBC
2004
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- http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/18/mars_scour040318
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