It seems that scientists have finally discovered what the terrifying black marks found decades ago on the surface of Mars are.
After being first observed during NASA’s Viking mission in 1970, the so-called Recurring Slope Lineae (RSLs) became the target of various conspiracy theories.
Initially, scientists thought the phenomenon was liquid flows that eventually dried up. But the new study, published in May in the scientific journal Nature Communications, cast doubts on the previously held views about the origin of the bizarre marks.
“A major focus of Mars research is to understand the modern processes on Mars — including the possibility of liquid water on the surface,” said Adomas Valantinas, a postdoctoral researcher at Brown University and coauthor of the study.
Valantinas and Valentin Bickel used an artificial intelligence tool with a machine learning algorithm to catalog as many slope streaks as possible.
They managed to train the algorithm to create an unprecedented global map of Mars containing over 500,000 slope features.
“As soon as we obtained this global map, we were able to compare it to databases and catalogs of other factors, such as temperature, wind speed, hydration, rock slide activity, and more,” explained Bickel.
“Then, we searched for correlations across hundreds of thousands of cases to better understand the conditions under which these features form.”
This analysis then found that the slope streaks and recurring slope lineae (RSLs) “are generally not associated with factors suggesting a liquid or frost origin,” contrary to previous beliefs.
Instead, the researchers found they are more likely to form in locations with above-average wind speed and dust deposition, indicating a dry origin.
They concluded that the streaks probably form “when layers of fine dust suddenly slide down steep slopes,” with various specific triggers identified as possible causes.
Photo and video: NASA. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
