Following NASA's very recent discovery of vast amounts of water just beneath the Martian surface, Jeffrey Kargel presents a brand new treatment of Martian geologic and climatic history. A fresh perspective on the ideas of oceans and glaciation and young water runoff features - at best poorly represented in current books - will capture every reader's imagination and enthusiasm for the Red Planet.

There is unprecedented interest in Mars since NASA's Odyssey spacecraft discovered evidence for vast amounts of water ice just below the planet's surface A colour section shows stunning visual images of Martian surface features, including water channels, obtained by Mars Global Surveyor Includes data and previously unseen images obtained as a result of the author's access to the data archives of other Mars space missions

Klappentext

Long believed to have been cold, dead and dry for aeons, there is now striking new proof that not only was Mars a relatively warm and wet place in geologically recent times, but that even today there are vast reserves of water frozen beneath the planet¹s surface. As well as casting fascinating new insights into Mars¹ past, this discovery is also forcing a complete rethink about the mechanisms of global planetary change.

What does the drastic turn of events on Mars mean for Earth¹s climate system?

Could life have thrived on Mars very recently, and might it survive even today?

Will humans be able to live off the natural resources that Martian hydrogeology now seems to offer?

How could Mars be transformed into the New World and should this even be contemplated?

In this absorbing, beautifully illustrated book, Jeffrey Kargel describes the still unfolding revolution in our knowledge about the Red Planet and how future concepts of Mars will continue to be moulded by new revelations of four billion years of geology.

Zusammenfassung
Offers a presentation of the evidence that Mars was a relatively warm and wet place and that there are vast reserves of water frozen beneath the planet's surface. This book includes various pictures. It also helps the reader learn about the process of science.

Inhalt
Foreword by Apollo 17 Astronaut Jack Schmitt - former US Senator and the last human to have walked on the lunar surface.- Imagining.- Watershed.- Warm, Wet, Early Mars.- Oceanus Borealis.- Outbursts, Outwash, and Outrage.- Life Etched in Stone.- We Will be Martians.- Stepping Stone to the Stars.