Water that used to exist on Mars slowly leaked into space, at least that’s the accepted theory. A new newspaper challenges this assumption and offers an alternate scenario where the Red Planet has clung to much of its ancient water – we just can’t see it.
An unexpectedly large amount of water is tucked away in minerals buried beneath the Martian crust, according to New Research published in Science. Data presented in the new paper, co-authored by Caltech graduate student Eva Scheller, suggests that somewhere between 30% and 99% of the original water on Mars has been preserved.
At the same time, the authors say that the prevailing theory of Martian water leakage into space – a result of the planet’s low gravity – is not entirely adequate. and that their new theory offers a solution to one main shortcoming rather beautiful. These results were presented March 15 at the 52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
We know that the Red Planet was once covered running water, as evidenced by the remains of deep ocean basins Lakes fast-flowing rivers, even amazingly large tsunamisThe total water volume that used to be on the is the old surface of Mars estimated on half of the total volume of the Atlantic Ocean, that’s hardly an insignificant amount. That was the case billions of years ago, but most of this water appears to be gone, and the small amount that remains has receded into the polar ice caps and (possibly) underground reservoir
But as Scheller explained in NASA pronunciation, the atmospheric escape of Martian water “does not fully explain the data we have on how much water once existed on Mars.”
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The key to any study of the history of water on Mars is the observed ratio of deuterium to hydrogen (D / H), which is typically used to support atmospheric escape theory. Water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, but a very small number of hydrogen atoms exist as deuterium, also known as “heavy hydrogen” because of an extra neutron in the atomic nucleus, in addition to the standard proton. Normal hydrogen, which makes up 99.98% of all hydrogen, can easily escape the low gravity of Mars and wash out into space, but that’s not the case for deuterium. Accordingly, Mars should be in surplus deuterium no matter what it does.
The problem is that the currently observed rate of atmospheric water leakage is too low, according to the study authors, and this process cannot exclusively explain all that historical water loss through the atmosphere. Instead, Scheller and her colleagues argue that, in addition to a minor leak through the atmosphere, the ancient water of Mars became trapped in minerals in the Earth’s crust. Together, these two mechanisms may explain the perceived D / H ratio and the missing water, the paper said.
Evidence for this hypothesis was taken from NASA’s Planetary Data System, which serves as a common data repository for previous missions. In this case, the authors analyzed Mars-specific data collected by telescopes, satellites, and rovers in sequence reconstruct historical water volumes – in liquid, vapor or ice form – on Mars and study the chemical composition of the atmosphere and crust of Mars.
By running simulations under different conditions, the authors showed that Mars lost much of its water during the Noachian period, about 4.1 billion to 3.7 billion years ago, and that 30% to 99% of this ancient water became buried under the crust, with the rest getting lost in space, in a finding that respects the currently observed D / H ratio.
The process responsible for the disappearance of Mars’ water is known as crustal hydration, and it’s not as exotic as it sounds. Chemical weathering caused by mixing rocks with water produces clays and other soggy minerals. This also happens on Earth on Mars, as shown from the ground observations created by NASA’s Curiosity rover. However, the fate of these materials played out differently on the two planets.
“The hydrated materials on our home planet are constantly being recycled through plate tectonics,” Michael Meyer, chief scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, said in the NASA release.“Because we have measurements from multiple spacecraft, we can see that Mars doesn’t recycle, so water is now trapped in the crust or lost in space,” said Meyer, who is not directly involved in the new research.
Kevin Olsen, a fellow at the University of Oxford and an expert on the Martian atmosphere, said the new paper makes ‘bold’But “new and intriguing.”“assumptions.
“Our basis for this [making inferences] about the ancient climate of Mars comes from comparison with Earth, and one aspect of the evolution of Mars that differs from Earth is the silencing of its volcanoes, the largest in the solar system, ” wrote Olsen, who is unaffiliated On the new study, in an email. “Per modelHow great the exchange is between water reservoirs near the surface and those in the rocky crust, they have provided many plausible scenarios where Mars was once much wetter, but turned out as we see it today. “
“This is a very interesting paper, combining many different mechanisms and models to investigate the fate of water on Mars,” said Geronimo Villanueva, a planetary scientist at NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center, also not involved in the new study, said in an email. “Given the high degree of uncertainty that exists about some model parameters – the range of possible scenarios is wide – but it is important to make testable predictions that can be pursued in the future.”
Villanueva said the new document will aid in future research into the history of water on the Red Planet.
Fortunately, the Perseverance could soon contribute to this line of research. NASA’s new Mars explorer will soon begin its scientific work in Jezero crater, the site of a former lake and river delta. Evidence to support this new theory could exist within this old expanse, which persistence will explore for the next two years.
For future colonists on Mars, this is both good and bad news. It’s good news, because Mars still has a lot of water, at least in theory. The bad news is that this water, if it exists, is trapped in hydrated materials such as clay. Living on Mars would strong enough, but developing the infrastructure to mine, extract and clean the water extracted from these minerals wild complicated and expensive.
To quote from the “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” it could be a classic case of, “Water, water, everywhere, and all shelves are shrinking; Water, water, everywhere, not a drop to drink.”