If more or less any random bit of Mars had saturated brines a few cm below the surface then there would be wetter areas with standing brine pools - lakes, streams, swamps and the like.

The atmosphere of Mars is WAY too dry for that scenario - just the shallow brine would totally saturate the atmosphere through diffusion. Then you have to look at how the brine would be restored?

It may "look" like mud, but there's no way it can actually *be* mud. Focussing on your desires and hopes rather than scientific reality may be warm and cosy but it's totally incorrect and will lead you up a long and painful blind alley.

Mars is a very difficult planet to comprehend because [bold]it is not Earth-like[/bold]. All our human instincts and ideas are irrevocably shaped by our birth, education, and multi-million year Mammalian evolution on Earth. It is a hard buit profitable exercise to think yourself outside of that box. If you persist in believing only your eyes and your instincts, you will never understand Mars.