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TOPIC: Chott el Jerid

Blobrana

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Posts: 131433

Date: May 25 10:47 2010

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Chott el Jerid, Tunisia the closest thing to Mars on Earth? From 24-31 May, a team of nine scientists and geologists will be analysing one of the most Mars-like places on Earth, Chott el Jerid in South West Tunisia, in preparation for future missions to the Red Planet. The field campaign has been organised by the Europlanet Research Infrastructure. Chott el Jerid is a seasonal lake that is completely dry for most of the year. Its sun-baked surface, composed of a hard crust of sodium chloride, conceals sources of underground water and the area has a vivid red colour due to the high iron content. This environment appears to resemble closely layered deposits of chloride salts discovered at Martian high latitudes by recent missions, such as Mars Odyssey, using data from Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Read more __________________

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