You have probably heard of glaciers and rocks before. Were you aware that rock glaciers exist? They're on other planets as well.
We don't know a lot about Mars rock glaciers, but scientists think they may hold a lot of water, which could help future human exploration and settlement on the Red Planet. A team of researchers from the University of Arizona are studying their Earth-based brethren in order to better understand the geological formation.
A rock glacier is a lot larger than a traditional ice glacier. Rocks are picked up when ice glaciers melt and refreeze at the base of mountains. Rock glaciers are smaller than ice glaciers due to their composition.
If the rock glaciers on Mars are the same as those on Earth, they could hold water that could be used by explorers. "They're more accessible than polar ice because they wouldn't have to change their orbits as much as they would if they were to land on a pole, which requires a lot more fuel to reach."
The researchers traveled to four rock glaciers in Colorado, Wyoming, and Alaska to map them with radar. The most precise estimates of rock glacier geometry have been made. It's possible to use that data to study the water budget in the mountain regions because the glaciers serve as water sources.
We want to use the rock glaciers on Earth as an example of processes on Mars. We're trying to understand how debris thickness varies on Mars by mapping the patterns of debris thickness on Earth. Simulations for the Martian case will be helped by learning about the differences in flow parameters between clean ice and debris-rich ice.
More measuring is the next thing for the team. NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, which has been flying sorties as part of the Perseverance rover mission for over a year, could someday be used on Mars.
The study was published in the Journal of Glaciology.
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