Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to re: active geyser vs passive spot

re: active geyser vs passive spot
Michael Gmirkin — (archived)

I agree that CO2 is not likely the cause of spiders. I believe that the spiders are simply formations in the ground caused by electrical discharge in the form of Lichtenbergs.

The black streaking is likely just dust devil streaking as seen on other parts of the planet, and as caused by Birkeland-powered arcs. I'd also figure the "dust devils" or elevtrically powered machining vortexes would tend to move less around the polar auroral zone (I only call it the auroral zone because it's in the same place we see auroras on other planets; MArs' atmosphere is too rarified to really have that level of interaction and discharge, to form auroras), where the Birkeland interactions are the strongest. Birkeland currents tend also to form in filaments, as shown on the terella...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birkeland_current

And as we see, the filaments gather around the poles of the terella, in a banding just like we see on Saturn and Jupiter. Uranus' "bright clouds" are in the configuration (spots where individual filaments connect to the pole) expected of Birkeland currents.

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02963

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpegMod/PIA02963_modest.jpg


We can also see a definite banding around the opposite pole of Uranus, with a couple pinkish bright spots in the photo (a little hard to see, but they're there).

Anyway, as the CO2 ice freezes and sublimates, the pre-existing lichtenbergs are simply hidden and revealed. I would wager dollars to pesos that if we observe the spiders in the same region over a period of years, they basically won't change, except insofar as how much of them is revealed by re-sublimating CO2 ice. They're already burned into the surface by massive discharges. They're really not going anywhere...

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