What does the contrast between ancient stable water environments and modern transient flows imply about Mars's climatic shift?
Answer
A catastrophic transition, rather than a gradual one, to the current climate
The synthesized findings reveal a stark dichotomy between Mars's past and present hydrology. Billions of years ago, the planet supported stable, planet-wide liquid conditions potentially involving vast oceans. Today, liquid water exists only in highly localized, ephemeral, and transient briny seeps governed by immediate temperature fluctuations. This profound disparity strongly suggests that the mechanism driving Mars from a wet world to a dry one was abrupt and severe—a catastrophic event or rapid sequence of events—rather than a slow, gradual fading of surface water stability.
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