Water on Mars any point in the year but would be ideal for solid carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide melting in the warmer summer would yield liquid carbon dioxide which would then form the gullies. Even if gullies are carved by flowing water at the surface, the exact source of the water and the mechanisms behind its motion are not understood. The dry gullies are deep grooves etched into the slopes that are there year-round. There are many other features on Mars, and some of them change seasonally. In August 2011, NASA announced the discovery by undergraduate student Lujendra Ojha of current seasonal
Life on Mars plant growth and for use in chemical processes. On Earth, nitrates correlate with perchlorates in desert environments, and this may also be true on Mars. Nitrate is expected to be stable on Mars and to have formed by thermal shock from impact or volcanic plume lightning on ancient Mars. On 24 March 2015, NASA reported that the SAM instrument on the "Curiosity" rover detected nitrates by heating surface sediments. The nitrogen in nitrate is in a "fixed" state, meaning that it is in an oxidized form that can be used by living organisms. The discovery supports the notion that ancient