Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Mars is currently arid without any liquid. But early in its history, the planet inhabited waters with a volume of half that of the Atlantic Ocean.
With this volume, it is estimated that water can cover the entire surface of the planet with water as deep as 1.5 km.
Water consists of oxygen and two hydrogen atoms. The existence of a hydrogen isotope called deuterium on Mars proves that water was lost there.
Deuterium or heavy hydrogen offers protons as well as neutrons. Hydrogen will usually go through the atmosphere into space more easily than deuterium.
Then where did the waters go? To find the answer, the researchers used models simulating the isotope composition of hydrogen and the volume of water on Mars.
“There are three key processes in this model: water goes into volcanism, water is lost into space and lost into the crust. Through this model and matching it with the hydrogen isotope dataset, we can calculate how much water is lost to space and the crust,” said California Institute of Technology PhD candidate Eva Scheller, quoted by Reuters, Thursday (18/3/2021).
The researchers estimate that water does not go into space as previously thought. However, it enters the planet’s crust between 30% and 99%.
The liquid is trapped in various mineral parts of its mineral structure, especially clay and sulfates. The departure of water is estimated to have occurred 3 billion years ago.
“We found water disappeared into the crust. Water was lost 3 billion years ago, which means Mars has been dry for 3 billion years,” said Eva Scheller.
Although there are many, according to the researchers, if the water is taken as a whole, it cannot provide the resources for astronauts’ missions to Mars in the future. Eva said that to get water, you must first heat the rocks you encounter on Mars.
“The amount of water in a rock or mineral is very small. You need to heat the rock to release a large amount of water,” he said.
(roy/roy)
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