Salt streaks sign of

present-day water
flows on Mars
Liquid water might not be a distant memory on Mars. New data suggest water flows
on the Red Planet even today. Seasonal dark streaks etched onto some slopes
are coated with salts that need liquid water to form, researchers report online
September 28 in Nature Geoscience. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recorded
spectra showing hydrated salts at four locations on Mars.
The salty trails appear annually, showing up only in warm seasons. Rising
temperatures probably drive water to the surface, though whether the source is
buried ice, local aquifers or something else is unclear.