I've long been intrigued by what looks like fog against (usually) sunward-facing hillsides on Mars. If this is fog -- and I don't know that it is -- I assume it is something like ice-fogs in cold regions of Earth, nothing like the heavy wet fogs that are so common in more temperate climes.
Here's an example:
If this is fog, could it account for the elevated water indications you cite?
Of course, the other obvious question is: if this is fog, what causes it? Why is it most frequently seen clinging to hillsides? What would the effect of this fog be over eons?
An alternative explanation is that this isn't fog at all, but is instead a remarkably smooth surface that hillsides somehow acquire.
Fogs have long been known to form in valleys and channels, though, as well as within craters and against the slopes of central peaks in craters, so why shouldn't they form against hillsides elsewhere, too?
Space/Science » in reply to More on the clouds above Meridiani.
re: A question for you, Bob