Re reply 85:
All I can see in these images is low, redoed mounds formed nu randomly oriented bedrock slabs. I see none of the classific gemorphological evidence of movement of wet sediments via slow or fast movement by wet sediment. The extremely low average temeratures at the site (about -30) preclude against an active layer more than a few mm deep. If water were present within a few mm of the surface, either as liquid or ice, it would have been detected in the first mini-TES scan. There is no evidence of water so far in mini-TES.
Re reply 88:
That image is evidence of either shrinkage or creep, or even both. It certianly isn't evidence of water. I have seen similar features on terrestrial slopes on the uphill side of boulders here on earth and they don't appear to be associated with seeps. These images are extremely interesting for this reason, but the are not IMPO, evidence of water.
Re reply 95:
I don't know, but would suspect episodic wind scour. See the wind ripples in the marginal troughs? But this does not rule out other processes operating as well.
The problem with all this enthusiasm for liquid water in Endurance crater is that the scale is wrong. Ephemeral films of moisture a few microns or 10's of microns thick are possible in summer here and in many other areas of Mars. We also see good evidence of episodic springs in Martian gullies where the gullies are metres across and hundreds of metres long. These present larger outflows from pressurised aquifers. An even half decent mechanism for liquid water at a scale of decimetres to metres is very difficult to get.
Cheers
Jon
