Magnesium arsenic reduces its corrosion rate in a salt solution by a factor of nearly ten. Research showed that magnesium's tendency to creep at high-temperatures is eliminated by the addition of scandium and gadolinium. Flammability is greatly reduced by a small amount of calcium in the alloy. Magnesium forms a variety of compounds important to industry and biology, including magnesium carbonate, magnesium chloride, magnesium citrate, magnesium hydroxide (milk of magnesia), magnesium oxide, magnesium sulfate, and magnesium sulfate heptahydrate (Epsom salts). Magnesium has three stable isotopes: , and . All are present in significant amounts (see table of isotopes above). About 79%
Seasonal flows on warm Martian slopes water, most are not, and many appear at temperatures as low as . Some scientists think that under these cold conditions, a brine of iron(III) sulphate (Fe(SO)) or calcium chloride () is the most likely mode of RSL formation. Another team of scientists, using the CRISM instrument onboard MRO, reported that the evidence for hydrated salts is most consistent with the spectral absorption features of magnesium perchlorate (Mg(ClO)), magnesium chloride (MgCl(H2O)) and sodium perchlorate (). Experiments and calculations demonstrated that recurring slope lineae could be produced by the deliquescence and rehydration of hydrous chlorides and oxychlorine salts. However, under present