Alien Anomalies

I continue to think aloud here....so if carbon dioxide is heavier then air ,and the winemakers back home use it an a 'blanket' over the top of the wine in barrels, then is it safe to assume that it will be lying like a blanket on the surface of Mars mixed with some other heavier gasses as shown in the chart below. Is it also possible, that if it is acting as a blanket that lighter gasses may be above this layer and that perhaps the reading would be different if sampled from above the carbon dioxide 'blanket' ?

I am not a scientist, does anyone know if that might be true ?

I have spent ages wondering how we could be seeing organic matter in variuos stages of decomposition that is exposed to air and light but has not disintegrated. It seems that the NASA chart below supplies a possible answer.

Carbon Dioxide is used to preserve organic matter rather effectively on Earth, so is Argon and Nitrogen. No doubt they would have the same effect on organic matter anywhere in the universe in the air concentration found on Mars. This would mean in theory that organic matter on the surface of Mars, perhaps trapped under sand or ice and gradually exposed to the elements would be preserved by this concoction of gasses in the atmosphere and that may mean what we are seeing may well be very old and very organic. Just a theory, but from what I can see....possible

Modified atmosphere

Main article: Modified atmosphere

Modifying atmosphere is a way to preserve food by operating on the atmosphere around it. Salad crops which are notoriously difficult to preserve are now being packaged in sealed bags with an atmosphere modified to reduce the oxygen (O₂) concentration and increase the carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration. There is concern that although salad vegetables retain their appearance and texture in such conditions, this method of preservation may not retain nutrients, especially vitamins. Grains may be preserved using carbon dioxide by one of two methods; either using a block of dry ice placed in the bottom and the can is filled with grain or the container can be purged from the bottom by gaseous carbon dioxide from a cylinder or bulk supply vessel.

Carbon dioxide prevents insects, and depending on concentration, mold, and oxidation from damaging the grain. Grain stored in this way can remain edible for five years.^{[citation needed]}

Nitrogen gas (N₂) at concentrations of 98% or higher is also used effectively to kill insects in grain through hypoxia.^[9] However, carbon dioxide has an advantage in this respect as it kills organisms through hypercarbia and depending on concentration hypoxia and, requiring concentrations of above 35%,^[10] or so. This makes carbon dioxide preferable for fumigation in situations where a hermetic seal cannot be maintained.

Air-tight storage of grains (sometimes called hermetic storage) relies on the respiration of grain, insects and fungi which can modify the enclosed atmosphere sufficiently to control insect pests. This is a method of great antiquity,^[11] as well as having modern equivalents. The success of the method relies on have the correct mix of sealing, grain moisture and temperature.^[12]

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

Modern winemaking requires inert gas blanketing to protect wine from oxidation. The gas of choice is Carbon Dioxide, because it is relatively cheap, and being denser than air (~2 g/Lt c.f. ~ 1.2 g/Lt for air at 20 ^o C), it readily inserts between the wine surface and ambient air.

By Daniel Liss

On Earth Day, I had the privilege of exhibiting my project—an energy efficient approach to food preservation—at EPA’s 6th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo. I was able to preserve food with a practically negligible impact on the environment.

Using my mother’s nut jar and other household equipment, I invented a device for preserving food that employs a promising, inexpensive new technique that could serve as an alternative to modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), the corporate industry standard. MAP involves displacing the air inside a container with either a single gas or mixture of gases to create an atmosphere that slows the deterioration of food.

Rather than displacing air, my device achieves the same objective with a simple chemical reaction. I apply an electrical charge to carbon fiber positioned inside a container, causing the fiber to burn. The surrounding oxygen reacts with the burning carbon to form carbon dioxide within the container.

In short, the existing air inside the container is transformed into a low-oxygen, high-carbon dioxide, atmosphere—hostile to the kinds of bacteria that are most harmful to food.

Although I was only 15 and my prototype was made from a nut jar, I had the opportunity to test my device at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, which graciously provided laboratory space and funding after learning about my idea during a summer internship.

Based on my test results, I was able to confirm that my device significantly inhibits bacterial growth and also slows the enzymatic degradation of meat. Even more exciting is that it works with just a few pieces of relatively inexpensive equipment, and unlike vacuum packaging, does not crush food, or suck out volatile ingredients such as fats and oils.

My method essentially replicates the benefits of MAP, without the need for sophisticated equipment or large amounts of pressurized gasses on hand. Most importantly, a package atmosphere only needs to be changed once, reducing the need for additives.

About the Author:  Daniel Liss is a rising junior at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School. Since EPA’s Expo, he won a gold medal at the International Environmental Project Olympiad (INEPO), in Istanbul, Turkey. Previously, he had won a bronze medal at the International Sustainable World [Environment, Energy, Engineering] Project Olympiad (I-SWEEEP) in Houston, Texas.

http://blog.epa.gov/blog/2010/08/sw/

Ahh, now we are getting to the real reason the rovers were sent there.  To asess the reason Mars lost its atmosphere and whether it happened slowly or through some cataclysm? Just my theory. I am sure they have known mars was inhabited for a long time and, we might have even come from there (or our mutated dna)  I guess they dont want to repeat thier mistakes with another planet since there is not another habitable one for more than a light year away.  Probably no chance of terraforming that one back from the dead.