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Nasa: Mars has flowing water

Flowing liquid water is almost certainly responsible for mysterious features on Mars that change with the seasons, scientists believe.

Satellite images have identified narrow streaks, typically less than five metres wide, that appear on slopes during warm seasons, lengthen, and then fade when conditions become cooler.

Experts have speculated that water might be involved in the formation of the gully-like features, known as recurring slope lineae (RSL), but only now has evidence supporting the theory come to light.

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'Dark, narrow streaks' show the flow of water on Mars

Dark, narrow, 100 meter-long streaks on Mars inferred to have been formed by contemporary flowing water are seen in an image produced by NASA. Credit: Reuters/Nasa

Photographs released by Nasa show the dark, narrow streaks that scientists say are formed by the flow of briny, liquid water across the surface of Mars.

These channels, which are between 1m and 10m wide, are on a scarp in the Hellas impact basin. Credit: Reuters/Nasa

The experts are unsure where the water comes from, but think it may rise up from underground ice or salty aquifers, or condense out of the thin Martian atmosphere.

ark narrow streaks called recurring slope lineae emanating out of the walls of Garni crater on Mars. Credit: Reuters/Nasa

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