What are those spidery black things on Mars?

[pokerfan]

What could they be? Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, from Hungary, from the European Space Agency have all proposed explanations; the leading one is so weird, it's transformed my idea of what it's like to be on Mars. For 20 years, I've thought the planet to be magnificently desolate, a dead zone, painted rouge. But imagine this: Every spring, the sun beats down on a southern region of Mars, morning light melts the surface, warms up the ground below, and a thin, underground layer of frozen CO2 turns suddenly into a roaring gas, expands, and carrying rock and ice, rushes up through breaks in the rock, exploding into the Martian air. Geysers shoot up in odd places. It feels random, like being surprise attacked by an monstrous, underground fountain. Here's what it might look like:

[PearliePoo2]

1. Damn...that is so cool!

I hope Curiosity is in the vicinity to examine those up close!

[Sancho]

2. haha...

Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed,
Then one day he was shootin at some food,
And up through the ground came a bubblin crude.

Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.

Well the first thing you know ol Jed's a millionaire,
Kinfolk said "Jed move away from there"
Said "Californy is the place you ought to be"
So they loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly.

Hills, that is. Swimmin pools, movie stars.


Well now its time to say good by to Jed and all his kin.
And they would like to thank you folks fer kindly droppin in.
You're all invited back a gain to this locality
To have a heapin helpin of their hospitality

Hillybilly that is. Set a spell, Take your shoes off.

Y'all come back now, y'hear?.


source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/beverlyhillbillieslyrics.html

[SheilaT]

3. How very amazing.

Is that thing in the top part of the picture a cliff? It almost looks like something built of stone, but it's reasonable to guess that it's a natural formation.

Actually, the very best thing here is that even a planet that may well never have had biological life on it is still very complex and interesting.

I just wish we'd send some manned missions in my lifetime.

[bongbong]

4. David Bowie has the answer

[TalkingDog]

8. Damn, you beat me to it. But I kindly provided video

[Salviati]

5. What do you want?

[Posteritatis]

6. "Interwebs," data crystals, and now this. Clearly JMS is a time traveler. (nt)

[On the Road]

7. Could They be the Peaks of Mountains --

or smaller formations, depending on the scale?

On earth, it would be very unusual to have formations which are that narrow and pointy. They would been destroyed by precipitation and temperature variations long before they reached that stage. But on Mars, the atmosphere is very thin and erosion is entirely from wind.

[pokerfan]

9. Well, they come and go with the Martian spring

so they can't be a fixed geologic feature like a mountain top. Geysers sound plausible.

[On the Road]

10. Oh, I See --

Something like the thermal vents under the ocean? Gases escape from the interior and accrete like a stalagmite? That would be pretty interesting.

[Warpy]

11. odd that they seem to be on ridges

instead of in valley areas like geysers on Earth.

A lot of Mars photos from the remotes look like home to me, I keep expecting a prairie dog to pop up at any moment.

However, from just a little farther away, it gets a lot weirder fast.

[Javaman]

12. Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie

ooh yeah
Ah
Ziggy played guitar, jamming good with weird and gilly
And the spiders from mars. he played it left hand
But made it too far
Became the special man, then we were ziggy's band

[montanto]

13. based on where they occur, it looks like

sand has slid downhill, obliterating the surface oxidation and exposing the darker, un-oxidized sand beneath.

[hunter]

14. That big billowing cloud casting a shadow at the top of the picture is interesting too...

What is it?

Dust devil?

Geyser?

Volcanic Vent?