Illustrations
Some images[4] have a table of 3 numbers[5]. The first is the Longitude[6], the second is the Latitude, and the third is the Solar Longitude[7]. The Solar Longitude is important because it describes the season. Images from two Martian years are placed in order of increasing Solar Longitude which is like beginning in spring and ending in autumn. Since Mars has little variable weather except for dust storms images from different Martian years with the same Solar Longitude should have similar temperatures.There are up to three image numbers.
The normal numbers are a link to the MSSS image.
The ones in Italics are a JPEG
excerpt from them. When there is a number in Italics with AN after it that
means the image is annotated, usually with letters referred to in the text.
G8
|
303.64 |
80.56 |
209.15 |
A shows
dark spots that usually become bushes. B
shows the edge of a whiter area. There are many of these that spiders avoid. C shows more spots that usually develop
into spiders. While there are many of these darker spots spider are much paler,
though they often seem to develop near the dark spots.
|
302.68 |
-83.71 |
224.84 |
Again
the spiders seem to be confined to the area of the streaks, which may be
related to the streaks at lower latitudes[9]
[10]
[11]
[12].
Later we will see the spiders are much larger while the streaks have
disappeared which probably implies the cause of the streaks ceases while the
wind is still blowing.
The
area around A is quite uneven giving the impression of having had spider
branches there. This will be an effect we point out many times in these photos.
B shows another area free from streaks with the same grooves. C shows spider
branches.
Gullies like these[13]
are common on Mars as are the dunes inside them. They have never been seen to
have a radial pattern like spiders.
|
303.76 |
-80.29 |
233.62 |
This was illustrated in the first paper as Figure 6.
Something stops the spiders from occupying the lighter areas. Areas like these
seem to become covered in spiders, like bushes, and the lighter areas have
polar spots leading to the possibility the spots are spiders that haven’t
grown. In the space of 24 degrees of solar longitude in this group the spider
areas started out as small branches among streaks and now already appear like
bushes covering nearly everything. If you look at the temperatures[14]
this is around the time when the temperatures grow rapidly at 75S. Since the
bolometric readings may be too low by about 20-30 degrees[15]
Celsius on darker ground this area may be close to the melting point of water
or brine.
|
298.8 |
-79.98 |
234.9 |
Similar to M0807198 M0807198 but the branches are more clearly seen. At
A the ground clearly undulates but
the spiders cover the whole slope. A fluid outflow might be expected to pool in
the depression at B. C also seems to be a depression yet the
spiders cover all areas.
The depressions
don’t connect in any kind of spider like radial pattern, and are probably a
form of chaos.
|
296.07 |
-80.96 |
240.48 |
This was illustration number 1g in the first paper. Here the branches appear to be covered with
a darker material like a bush. This may come from trapping the dark material
from streaks in the branches.
Here the channels have debris at the
bottom like many fluids make. However spiders never have a debris at the ends
of the branches making it hard for fluid to have fluid through them.
was reimaged as
E1201762
annotated
|
293.47 |
-81.93 |
310.07 |
The difference in spider formation between these two is quite spectacular. Note there is 70 degrees in solar longitude difference between M0902042 and E1201762, whereas most of the other comparisons have had nearly the same solar longitude. Note at A the two main branches are approximately at right angles to the sun angle. The radial pattern is very uniform though the ground is very uneven. B shows spiders buried under frost, much smaller as if the branches have withered. The bush C seemingly has long branches with tufts of smaller branches at the ends like a tree would. At D the branches climb a small hill even though a fluid flow should just go around it. This in effect is movement against gravity. The bush E apparently originates from a small hill, with the central area also at right angles to the sun angle. The large bush has so many branches moving against gravity it is impossible to list them all. For example the branch G runs over the top of a hill instead of going around it. Examples of Fibonacci branching are shown in white, where the angles between the branches are approximately equal[16].
Typically spider branches have very similar angles between them which gives the
overall even impression. A fluid flow should have random angles. At H branches from 2 different spiders
point towards each other. If these were fluid flows then this should be a depression
and the liquids form a pool. There is no indication of this though. I, J, K, and L have the same situation, where branches don’t join to the ones
on the next spider.
Recently
this was reimaged again as E1301971
Solar longitude (Ls): 331.56°
Here
the spiders are even clearer.
|
306.49 |
-82.57 |
243.37 |
Here there appear to be light colored spiders in the top of
the photo and darker ones at the bottom. A shows the lighter side of the
branches is on the lower right which is consistent with the sun azimuth. B
shows the light colored spiders seem to be at a different elevation.
|
304.09 |
-80.59 |
245.97 |
Interestingly this photo still shows frost, though most of
the photos closer to the pole have long been frost free. This seems to go
against the temperature data which indicates the areas closer to the pole
should be colder not warmer. Errors of this magnitude may be more than the
number of degrees cited that spider areas are supposed to be below zero. So
areas that seem watery may be so, especially if brine. We don’t know, but the
spiders are often much smaller than the resolution of the temperature data[17].
It also
illustrates the problem. Many previous photos have shown spiders even though
the ground is frost free. If they were made of ice then they should have
sublimated away shortly after the ground ice did. However here the opposite is
seen, the ice remains here and the spiders are not here yet. As we will see
later spiders do occur in this area later.
The
implication is the ice keeps away the spiders, but the spiders are supposed to
be made of ice or formed in conjunction with ice. Because of the axial tilt the
lower the latitude the more tendencies for the sun to dip closer to the horizon,
which may make the temperatures lower at times. So even at 80.1 S there is
still some frost. This may also be an area that has more spiders at times of
higher obliquity.
Compare to photo M0807198 M0807198
|
303.76 |
-80.29 |
233.62 |
Which is at a similar latitude but
a different longitude but had no frost at 245.97 degrees Solar Longitude. The
temperatures vary widely for some reason, these two photos are nearly next to
each other and the first is closer to summer than the second. With so many
variables temperatures closer to zero cannot be excluded.
The
tracks formed by dust devils are not similar to spiders.
|
295.72 |
-79.93 |
248.56 |
This is probably getting close to the maximum temperature
in the area[18].
At 75S the temperature appears to be only 10 degrees C below zero and with the
darker soil the bolometric reading may put it over zero. Add in possible salts[19]
and this time is probably as hospitable to liquid water being available as it
gets on the Martian South Pole.
There
is also the impression of much finer branches below the limit of resolution,
and again the branches seem to go up and down slopes without regard to gravity.
An outflow should tend to be pooling in this kind of terrain, not forming
branches. The ground is clearly undulating because of the shadows but the
spiders are very even.
This is interesting because M0302290 has typical fluid channels and one would expect this to be highly compressible if fluid channels in general mimic spider patterns. The channels also have debris at their bottoms and don’t bifurcate into branches like spiders do.
Also fluids typically appear to come from a
layer under the ground or perhaps by snowfall[20],
neither of which compares to spider formation. The score so far is 7-2 in favor
of the spiders. This
doesn’t mean the spider photos are necessarily more biogenic, but they do seem
to compress at consistently different percentages from non spider fluid
channels. This may be because of biases in the image selection. For example one
might tend to take more close ups of spiders because of the level of interest
and so fluid channels might take up a smaller part of the photo. In fact later
we’ll see dunes are far more compressible than spider photos, though they are
certainly not biogenic. It does indicate however that spider images here for
some reason do compress differently from dune and fluid channel images, which
are two plausible explanations of them.
|
298.58 |
-79.62 |
251.83 |
A similar terrain, the spiders don’t grow on the lighter
areas. Also the spiders again seem to cover uneven ground without any pooling.
Here I have placed the image
upside down. This might look like spiders but this is the equivalent of fluids
flowing uphill, which is impossible. Also there is no radial pattern like
spiders have, and no real sign of moving against gravity.
|
304.68 |
-81.3 |
254.84 |
This was illustration 2g in the first paper. There is still
frost here while the frost has disappeared in many earlier images. Some images
may be part of the permanent ice cap and so remain frozen, but they are very
close to spider areas, so it is hard to prove exactly what the temperatures
are.
An interesting result. M0806802
|
300.07 |
-79.06 |
259.65 |
Here there is the appearance of returning frost. Again
there is the clear impression of spider areas in clumps and other areas
completely devoid of them. Darker areas might survive longer because they would
retain more heat.
An interesting photo to compare to M0807198 M0807198
|
303.76 |
-80.29 |
233.62 |
One could easily imagine this as
looking watery, and the shapes are similar. These should be compared to the
“Swiss cheese” shapes such as
|
79.44 |
-86.91 |
246.69 |
which may be older spider areas.
The longitude of 79.44 degrees puts this on the other side of the Pole. So the
latitude is similar so if the other side was warmer at one stage then spiders
may have formed there. It doesn’t appear to be known why one side of the pole
is much warmer than the other.
Again the photo is upside down
so the channels appear to be moving against gravity. These are nothing like
spiders.
|
305.18 |
-81.67 |
267.19 |
This was photo 9c in the first paper. The branches are very dark here. These are similar to spiders and are probably a different type yet this difference implies a different kind of geological formation. Usually pale spiders form out of a dark background but here dark spiders form out of a light background. Outside the dark areas may be spider remains. Fibonacci branching is seen here as well.
|
305.99 |
-80.89 |
271.72 |
An interesting photo to compare to the “Swiss cheese”. Either some spiders grow in a “Swiss cheese” like area, or they form the “Swiss cheese” somehow and leave them when they are gone. Here we see raised boundaries like the lips around the Swiss Cheese. The areas between the ridges seem full of spiders.
|
301.4 |
-79.62 |
276.47 |
More bush like areas. The outlines are similar to the Swiss Cheese areas.
This may have been a water flow recently or it could be an ancient
lake from times of higher obliquity. The impression is of fluids flowing down
the hill. The reflection is consistent of the features on the hill.
|
304.98 |
-79.73 |
279.68 |
This should also be compared with the “Swiss cheese” shapes. As the spiders disintegrate they probably shouldn’t disappear completely. The lips around the edges of the bushes seem to be of a different material, much smoother than spider bushes. If so they may be left behind when the spiders disintegrate and look like the Swiss Cheese. They may act as traps for more soil from dust storms which the spiders use. Swiss Cheese areas with no spiders may have lost this accumulated material eventually from the wind.
|
300.95 |
-79.92 |
280.95 |
More bush shapes. The resemblance of these kinds of formations to wetlands is quite striking.
Here the channels appear to come out of a layer below ground unlike spiders.
|
296.7 |
-80.01 |
282.21 |
This
gives the impression the bush shapes are thinning out and the spider shapes
underneath are being exposed. The Solar Longitude is 282.21 and the temperature
is dropping. There should be nothing that could form on this undulating terrain
and not preferably end up in the lower areas. Image 2 is
|
296.23 |
-79.78 |
287.65 |
Nearly the same position as M1101987 and more indications of thinning out bushes.
Image 2 is
From the side of a crater upside
down. These could never form against gravity like this, yet spider branches are
supposed to do it often.
|
305.46 |
-81.01 |
288.55 |
There is a clear lip like the Swiss Cheese. Image 2 is
|
298.85 |
-82.82 |
289.19 |
More appearance of branches
dissipating, but also in a dark boundary. There are small branches inside the
dark area but not outside, implying the branches are related to the albedo.
This may be related to M1002495. The darker material may be smaller branches that are
disintegrating into a dark soil. Outside the dark areas there are imprints like
spider ravines. This can better be viewed over the whole photo.
Image 2 is
Another upside image of fluid
channels nothing like spiders.
|
300.51 |
-79.21 |
290.8 |
The bushes here are well separated
from each other, like the Swiss Cheese structures.
Image 2 is
|
297.79 |
-81.46 |
291.05 |
Here
branches go into bush shapes suggesting the two are linked. The impression is
these bush parts are decaying, exposing the branches. In the upper left corner
there are many spider branches disconnected. For this to be formed geologically
the Fibonacci branches would have to form on flat ground, when fluids would
normally just pool. Then somehow they would have to get covered with this bush
material. Then the bush material would have to wither exposing the branches.
Then the branches wither away as they are in the process of here. Image 2 is
|
302.95 |
-82.12 |
294.18 |
Mounds
which may be the cores of disintegrated spiders. The impression here is off
branches showing through as the larger bush disintegrates. There are many
Fibonacci patterns and as always these branches have very similar angles. Some
mounds look like buried spider mounds similar to those in E1201762.
Image 2
is
Spiders are
nothing like this kind of fluid flow.
|
295.94 |
-81.04 |
295.17 |
As the
bushes collapse one can see the relationship to the “Swiss cheese”, with some
areas as partially formed lips. The spiders are also losing their Fibonacci
patterns and becoming the same albedo as the soil. Image 2 is
|
298.91 |
-82.25 |
295.41 |
Though the ground is clearly
undulating the branches move against gravity. At nearly every point on this
image branches move oblivious to the angle of the slopes. Image 2 is
|
303.6 |
-80.52 |
301.35 |
More “Swiss cheese” shapes with a
clear example of the lip shapes. Image 2 is
|
294.14 |
-85.94 |
306.04 |
Spider ravines only, no sign of
spiders. Frost may be returning. Image 2 is
|
293.47 |
-81.93 |
310.07 |
Reimaging of
the bush like structures in
|
296.07 |
-80.96 |
240.48 |
This
whole photo is worth downloading and carefully studying. There are many spiders
also covered in frost here.
Conclusions on
Group 8
To
summarize, this cluster showed a definite trend of starting out with little or
no spider signs, then a period of growth coinciding with the disappearance of
frost, the opposite of what geological models suggest. Then as the spider
branches get larger we see bushes start to appear. As the temperatures drop we
see bushes apparently breaking up with the branches of spiders appearing in the
debris. Then as the frost appears again most spiders fall apart. Some leave no
trace, some leave bush outlines, and some leave spider shaped ravines.
This
should not happen with a geological origin. Even if the spiders could grow as
the heat increased the colder weather shouldn’t be able to make them shrink and
disappear. Chemical reactions that begin to work with heat from the spring are
not supposed to also work with lack of heat as autumn approaches.
Group 1
In this
group the spider’s biogenicity is compared with dunes. This is a much larger
cluster coinciding roughly with the Western side of Chasma Australe.
|
265.42 |
86.2 |
213.16 |
If you look at the full photo E0700758 you’ll see the streaks and the wind direction is different
at the top and bottom of the photo. Since many of the spiders may be in canyons
this may cause the wind direction to change and swirl. This can be seen by
looking at the area on the THEMIS web site[21]
with the wide angled photos. This wind is probably caused by sublimating CO2 so
this tells us the air pressure is rising.
Also
there may be an effect with so much recently sublimated CO2 that the air
pressure around here may be substantially higher, as it would take time for the
CO2 to get away from the pole. While this would be hard to measure the fact is
enough CO2 sublimates here over a few months to increase the air pressure all
over Mars. If so then this might increase the air pressure temporarily locally.
These
dark streaks may also be related to the “seeps” or “streaks”[22].
Both involve a dark, possibly fluid or dusty material coming out of a small
opening in the ground[23].
When near spiders there is a strong connection. When seen as polar spots they sometimes
have spider branches coming out of them or are separate from spider areas. When
seen in lower latitudes the streaks also come from small openings. If related
to the spiders they may give additional evidence the spiders covered more of
Mars. If there was high salinity combined with dark soil and a possible higher
air pressure there may be a relationship to water here, particularly if the
spiders are helped with heat from underground.
At A it seems unclear whether the spiders
grow from the source of the dark streaks or not. They do seem to preferentially
begin near the streaks though, implying the dark material is useful in their
growth. Note the shadows on the upper sides of the branches which implies these
are above ground and not ravines, and also have a substantial height. Since the
pixel width is 4.16 meters this may imply some branches here are at least
several meters wide. B and C show there are usually distinct gaps
of bare ground between the spiders as they form. Note also the spider branches
tend to align at around 90 degrees to the sun angle, which is usually around
140 degrees clockwise from vertical. Add 90 degrees to the MSSS value for the
direction of the sun clockwise from up in unprocessed images. Image 2 is
which is a good example of the streaks at lower latitudes.
It appears as if something has flowed over the rippling of the dunes.
|
267.49 |
-86.05 |
223.31 |
Even in the space of 10 degrees of solar longitude com
