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Could there have been a giant flood on Mars four billion years ago?

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Well, this open-access paper argues for it.

The raging megaflood — likely touched off by the heat of a meteoritic impact, which unleashed ice stored on the Martian surface — set up gigantic ripples that are tell-tale geologic structures familiar to scientists on Earth.

“We identified megafloods for the first time using detailed sedimentological data observed by the rover Curiosity,” said co-author Alberto G. Fairén, a visiting astrobiologist in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Deposits left behind by megafloods had not been previously identified with orbiter data.”

As is the case on Earth, geological features including the work of water and wind have been frozen in time on Mars for about 4 billion years. These features convey processes that shaped the surface of both planets in the past.

This case includes the occurrence of giant wave-shaped features in sedimentary layers of Gale crater, often called “megaripples” or antidunes that are about 30-feet high and spaced about 450 feet apart, according to lead author Ezat Heydari, a professor of physics at Jackson State University.

The antidunes are indicative of flowing megafloods at the bottom of Mars’ Gale Crater about 4 billion years ago, which are identical to the features formed by melting ice on Earth about 2 million years ago, Heydari said.

Cornell University, “Field geology at Mars’ equator points to ancient megaflood” at ScienceDaily

It didn’t do much for life on Mars compared to life on Earth. Why did we keep having the winning tickets?

Comments
Too funny, Fastedious. That would make a super annoying "just so story" to inflict on Darwinists--that no life has been found on Mars because the great Martian flood wiped it all out. Ha ha! Student: "So teach, do you think that maybe there's no life on Mars because there was a huge flood that wiped it all out, just like what happened on Earth?" -QQuerius
November 21, 2020
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Exactly, Latemarch. And after each lie gets busted another one gets promoted. And the science is always "settled." And that's what they tell the children. -QQuerius
November 21, 2020
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Another "just so" story to explain vague observations. Apparently we haven't learned anything from all the years of "just so" stories that have to be revised again and again to explain evolution.Latemarch
November 21, 2020
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I guess there was no "righteous man" like Noah on Mars at the time to build an ark and save the local wildlife. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)Fasteddious
November 21, 2020
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If Mars had a temperate climate anywhere could liquid water exist let alone create a flood? Would it not evaporate into space before it could accumulate?jerry
November 21, 2020
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So, if there was a planetary flood on Mars, then why should a planetary flood on Earth be so far fetched? And what else might not be so far fetched? "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters." Genesis 1:1,2 (NASB) https://astronomy.com/news/2020/03/ancient-earth-may-have-been-a-water-world-without-any-dry-land -QQuerius
November 21, 2020
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The heat of an impact unleashed all the ice? Doesn't make sense. Unless the meteorite was large enough to crush the entire planet, it wouldn't generate enough lasting and NON-DISSIPATED heat. Tunguska in 1908 didn't melt the Arctic.polistra
November 21, 2020
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Not unless there was a significant change to the Martian atmosphere between then and now. It's too cold on Mars to get drenched or flooded by water and ice wouldn't do what they claim to have happened. Lava is the greatest candidate for what is seen, but until we colonize Mars, we won't know for certain. A lot of tests need to be done to understand Mars' past. Most tests cannot be done from a distance.BobRyan
November 20, 2020
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Oh, so it was a catastrophic flood after all! Didn't they first start out saying that Mars was "drenched"? Look it up. -QQuerius
November 20, 2020
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