highest salt content of the crater in Antarctica (Photo: LabNews)
Reported LabNews, Monday (03/25/2013), the findings were published in Scientific Reports, shows salt levels in the crater are similar to those found on Mars.
The salt content in the crater of Don Juan Pond in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, eight times higher than the Dead Sea. Remarkably, this natural phenomenon occurs in one of the coldest and driest place on Earth.
The research team used time lapse camera showed the photos show that the water in the crater is the result of the freezing of ice in Antarctica.
"Of the 16 thousand photos that we managed to take shows that most of the water comes from melting snow during the day. However, these data do not prove where the origin of high salt content in the pond, "says lead researcher, James Dickson.
Search results further stated, the content of salted water comes from a sediment in the bottom of the crater soil. Because the salt in the soil will absorb the moist air, this process is called deliquescence.
Then, the water content of the salt containing flowing when the snow melts to the sidelines soil causes the formation of a crater.
Not only that, the photos in Don Juan is similar to photos captured on Mars. Some researchers believe that the lines in the picture indicate the possibility of water flowing in the Red Planet.
"In general, texture and salinity levels in the Don Juan similar as those found on Mars. However, not on the current state of Mars but life on the Red Planet in the past, "said Dickson.
(amr)
http://techno.okezone.com/read/2013/03/25/56/781269/peneliti-temukan-kawah-terasin-di-antartika-mirip-mars
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