David Jenkins, Professor of Geoscience and Environmental Studies at Binghamton University, and former graduate student Brittany DePasquale have discovered that iron-rich smectite, the most thermally unstable, is capable of forming at depths of up to 30 kilometers and can store water lost from the Red Planet. On Earth, smectite usually occurs as a result of interactions between rock and water, although the conditions for such a reaction are unclear. “Until recently, many people, myself included, assumed that water that used to exist on Mars now exists as ice stored at the polar crests and as ice underground,” Jenkins said, explaining that over the past few years this has been the case. . orbiting the moon Artificial intelligence around the planet has gathered enough information to determine that both the current amount of ice and the loss of steam are responsible for the loss of “the lowest estimate of the amount of water present on Mars”.
“Once we saw that iron smectite, the least thermally stable form of smectite, is stable to temperatures of around 600 degrees Celsius at a depth of 30 km, it became clear that smectite could actually be an important deposit of ‘lost water’ on Mars,” said the expert who conducted the study. necessary tests in the laboratory.
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However, Jenkins and DePasquale’s theory cannot be proven at this time, because no equipment is capable of adequately drilling the planet’s surface. “The more difficult question, about the total amount of clay minerals on the surface or in the near-surface environment of Mars, has not been determined with the precision needed to truly confirm that clay minerals can become the dominant reservoir of water on Mars,” lamented the globe.
Space news highlights
- Title: They determined that some of the water lost on Mars could be trapped in clay minerals hidden kilometers beneath the surface.
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