Mars-style

We’ve arrived at our destination pretty much safe and sound — thanks to all of you who wrote to wish us well.  I was going through all the news that’s piled up while we were on the road, and noticed a story about “warm” weather on Mars and how some landforms show evidence of freeze-and-thaw cycles that indicate warmer weather sometime in the past. Very interesting and a great object lesson in what you can learn by studying landforms.

Driving across the landform that is the Great Plains of the United States, I couldn’t help but think about how millions of years ago the whole area was under an ocean. The landform is gentle and and rounded, with a few hills here and there. Of course, we went through some of our own “warm” weather the past few days — sweltering temps and some pretty severe storms. Those are short-term compared to the long-term existence of things like oceans in the past or the yearly freeze-thaw cycle on Mars that spurred the recent finding.  But, it’s all planetary science — and it’s all still in the landforms, if you know how and where to look!