liquid water on mars?

Question

Liquid water cannot exist for very long on the surface of Mars today because

A) it gets rapidly destroyed by intense solar radiation

B) its surface temperature is too high

C) it rapidly reacts with the Martian surface to form peroxides

D) its atmosphere is too thin

Answer 1

c

Answer 2

As to the question of weather or not water exist on Mars, I would have to refer you to the latest images released from the Mars Global Surveyor. Here we can see the latest results of images returned from the Surveyor that definently show signs of gullies formed on the Northern wall of the Hale crater. After the examination of some 10,000 images of gullies on Mars by such researchers as Malin and Edgett, two have revealled rescent changes between images taken of the same area and compared to images taken as of late covering the same region and most definantly show gullies running down the north wall terminating in fingerlike tributaries. This is very indicative of water flow combined with debris, and the fact that this flow diverts itself around subtle topographic anomalies is a sure sign of liquid flow at the surface.

Answer 3

The correct answer is D. The atmosphere is so thin that your blood would boil immediately if you were on Mars without a space suit, and so would any liquid water that was exposed to the surface.

Answer 4

I believe that the best answer is probably D. Mars atmosphere is only about 600 Pa (0.6 kPa), compared to Earth's 101.3 kPa. At this pressure, any liquid water is quickly boiled away, even at the very low temperatures of the surface.

Some evidence of flowing water has been found, though:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/314/5805/1573

Answer 5

I not sure what teacher ask you this question as there no correct answer given. There may be water on Mars. I guess if I were to pick a best answer I would say *A*.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_water_000620.html
The link is an old article from 2000. But, as of yet, I have not read a Yes or No as to water being on Mars.

Answer 6

there is definitely water on Mars in the form of ice on the northern and southern poles, but not as liquid, since mars is smaller than earth it lost its magnetic field which protected it from solar winds, caused most (or all) of the liquid forms of water to evaporate and get blown into space, it is theorized the Earth's magnetic field is generated by the swirling of iron in the earth's mantle (magma), it is still liquid because the earth is larger, and so heat is still retained and has kept it liquid, why we still have volcanoes and Mars does not, but since Mars is smaller the liquid magma cooled sooner and solidified and eventually the magnetic field dissipated, after that liquid water evaporated (as stated above) and only water in form of ice on polar caps remained. pheew! how's that?

Answer 7

as some have stated and utopia, some have theorized that occasionally the polar ice caps melt and refreeze leaving channels from the liquid water

Answer 8

because it's too cold. it would freeze instantly.

Answer 9

D.