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A new study has provided compelling evidence supporting the idea that the unusual furrows found on the Phobos Martian moon may have been originally created after the rolled stones were released from an asteroid at impact.
according to Phys.org, the new research on Phobos uses computer models to try to understand the reaction of stray debris hitting the Stickney crater. These models show that blocks of different sizes, colliding with the asteroid forming the crater, could very easily have created the strange grooves that we see today on this March moon.
Ken Ramsley, research scientist at Brown University and responsible for the new study of the grooves discovered on Phobos, explained that these patterns were a unique and central feature of the Martian moon and had been the subject of much debate since several decades. .
"These grooves are a distinctive feature of Phobos and planetary scientists have been discussing them for 40 years. We think this study is another step towards an explanation. "
The first time these furrows were officially spotted, it was in the 1970s, when NASA was busy conducting its Mariner and Viking missions. As time went on, theories abounded on how these grooves had come to fruition for the first time on Phobos.
Mars Moon pulls its grooves from rolling stones, according to a study @BrownUniversity https://t.co/FA8zxbqAN2
– Phys.org (@physorg_com) November 20, 2018
While some scientists have speculated that objects that affected Mars would have burst and hit that moon, others have suggested that the Martian Moon was slowly being destroyed by the severity of the planet Mars actively tearing it apart, grooves showing how much it had fractured over time.
However, other scientists have suggested that there should be a link between the Stickney crater and the furrows of this March moon. In fact, during previous NASA missions in the 1970s, planetary scientists Jim Head and Lionel Wilson suggested that ejectas, which include rolling, slippery or even bouncy rocks, could well be the culprit behind the special grooves of the moon. And it's Head himself who also co-wrote the new research on how rolling stones could have caused these furrows.
To create the computer models of Phobos, Ramsley explained that it was actually a fairly simple experience in reality.
"The model is actually only an experiment done on a laptop. We put all the basic ingredients, then we press the button and we see what happens. "
These models have shown that rocks, or rolling stones, are placed along parallel paths, which is exactly the parallel groove paths that can be seen on Phobos today, according to Ramsley.
"We think this proves quite clearly that it is this model of moving blocks that represents most, if not all, Phobos grooves."
The new study that shows how the rolling stones could cause the furrows of the Phobos Martian moon was published in Planetary and space sciences.
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