Subj: Wow!
Date: 10/24/00 2:39:27 PM Pacific Daylight Time

Just looked at the "tubes" you have on your site. Of course it is
impossible to say exactly what they are unless someone can remote view
them, but I would like to offer a few observations.

Looking at http://ida.wr.usgs.gov/fullres/divided/m04002/m0400291a.jpg
we see what appears to be 3 reinforced plastic tubes entering a cave.
If we assume that they are tubes with concentric reinforcing bands of
thicker plastic or other material evenly spaced (similar to a dryer
hose, but complete circles instead of a helix), then they do appear to
fit this description quite well.

If you take a plastic tube with evenly spaced marks on it and stretch
it, then the tube will become thinner, and the marks further apart.
This is exactly what we see on the top tube, where it is being stretched
by gravity where it drops into the cave. The tube becomes thinner, and
the reinforcements are further apart.

Also if you overpressure a tube, then the tube will become wider, and
the bands will become further apart, just like if you blow up a ballon.
The tube toward the bottom shows what appears to have been an
overpressuring, with the tube bulging out and the bands further apart.
The appearance that this is a bulge is enhanced by the reflection of the
sun, enchance due to the curved cross section of the bulge, and the
likelyhood that a mat surface becomes smooth upon stretching (stretch
most balloons and you will see them go from mat to shiney).

Now a structure of this size, with no more reinforcement that that would
be unlikely to be built to handle any liquids. The weight of the liquid
would most likely collapse the tube even with the lower gravity of
Mars. Instead I believe that what was being piped was a gas. Also it
appears that the channels that the tubes are in may have eroded due to
the tubes being buried there, and a deep hole where water could flow to
(when Mars had water). Or they may have been laid into valleys, and one
of them later got covered up by blowing dust.

OK, the next question is, was the gas flowing into the hole or out of
the hole. I suspect that something was being extracted from the hole
for use elsewhere. Two things come to mind. A gas which was coming
from deep in the area, such as natural gas, carbon dixoide, sulfur
dioxide, or water vapor, which could be condensed at the destination to
yield pure water.

I think this should be explored further by anyone that can. Very
intriguing

Marshall