NASA’s Mars Orbiter Detects Newly Formed Martian Gully

NASA's Orbiter has recently documented a newly formed gully in the southern hemisphere of the Martian slope that formed between 2010 and 2012, but not due to water, according to latest news.

The space agency confirmed the formation of the new channel on the Martian slope after scientists analyzed the images taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera (HiRise) present on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. They basically compared the images taken by orbiter in November 2010 and May 2013.

The gully was found at 37.45 degree south latitude, 222.95 degrees east longitude in the Terra Sirenum region of the inner wall of a crater, HNGN reported.

A side by side comparison of the two images suggests the formation of a new gully on the crater-wall slope in the southern highlands of Mars.

Gully or ravine features are common on the Martian slopes, especially the southern highlands. The linear gully like features seen on the Martian slopes are understood to be strong evidence of liquid water on the Red Planet.

 But this new Martian gully is not formed by water. The scientists remain puzzled on what really triggered the formation of this new geological feature. Also since the images were taken an year apart from each other, MRO was unable to identify the season when the new channel was formed. But studies conducted on other sites of the Martian planet show that the gully channel generally form during the winters, Softpedia reports.

"This pair of images shows that material flowing down from an alcove at the head of a gully broke out of an older route and eroded a new channel," said NASA in a news release.

Since the gully was formed during the Martian winter, the temperature is extremely cold for water. So the researchers say that carbon dioxide is what gave rise to the formation of the gully.