Water on Mars may hide on the surface, instead evaporating into space.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – Scientists report a large amount of water Mars ancient may have been buried beneath the surface rather than disappearing into space. Findings published in the journal Science On Tuesday (16/3), we can unravel the collision of theories trying to explain the disappearance of Mars water. Water was an abundant resource on the planet’s surface billions of years ago.
Through modeling and data from Mars probes, rovers and meteorites, researchers at the California Institute of Technology found that between 30 and 99 percent – of the earliest amount of water on the Red Planet could have disappeared from the surface through a geological process called crustal hydration. Water is locked in the Martian rocks.
Evidence suggests that Mars’ past water resided over its entire rocky surface. For years, scientists thought this water had largely escaped into space, leaving the planet in its present, very dry state.
The time and rate at which water can escape from the atmosphere paired with the estimated amount of water that once existed on the Martian surface are inconsistent with modern observations of the planet.
“If it persists over the last four billion years, it could only cause a small fraction of water to be lost,” said Renyu Hu, one of the study’s co-authors.
That leaves researchers with a key question: where exactly is the remainder water on Mars go?
Research led by Eva Scheller, a graduate student in geology at Caltech who studies planetary surface processes, may offer an answer. The study found most of the water loss occurred during Mars’ Noachian period between 3.7 billion and 4.1 billion years ago.
During that time, the water on Mars could have interacted with and combined with the minerals in the planet’s crust – in addition to escaping from the planet’s atmosphere. This interaction locks in as much water as about half of the Atlantic Ocean.
“One of the things our team realized early in this study was that we needed to look at evidence from the last 10 to 15 years of exploration of Mars in relation to what happened to our findings about the Martian crust and in particular the nature of water in the Martian crust,” said Bethany Ehlmann. , study co-author and professor of geological and planetary sciences at Caltech.
Water can break down rocks through a process called chemical weathering, which sometimes keeps minerals hydrated. Hydrated minerals take in and store water, locking it in.
For example, gypsum, a water-soluble mineral found naturally on Mars, can keep its water trapped unless heated to temperatures higher than 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – Scientists report a large amount of water Mars ancient may have been buried beneath the surface rather than disappearing into space. Findings published in the journal Science On Tuesday (16/3), we can unravel the collision of theories trying to explain the disappearance of Mars water. Water was an abundant resource on the planet’s surface billions of years ago.
Through modeling and data from Mars probes, rovers and meteorites, researchers at the California Institute of Technology found that between 30 and 99 percent – of the earliest amount of water on the Red Planet could have disappeared from the surface through a geological process called crustal hydration. Water is locked in the Martian rocks.
Evidence suggests that Mars’ past water resided over its entire rocky surface. For years, scientists thought this water had largely escaped into space, leaving the planet in its present, very dry state.
The time and rate at which water can escape from the atmosphere paired with the estimated amount of water that once existed on the Martian surface are inconsistent with modern observations of the planet.
“If it persists over the last four billion years, it could only cause a small fraction of water to be lost,” said Renyu Hu, one of the study’s co-authors.
That leaves researchers with a key question: where exactly is the remainder water on Mars go?
Research led by Eva Scheller, a graduate student in geology at Caltech who studies planetary surface processes, may offer an answer. The study found most of the water loss occurred during Mars’ Noachian period between 3.7 billion and 4.1 billion years ago.
During that time, the water on Mars could have interacted with and combined with the minerals in the planet’s crust – in addition to escaping from the planet’s atmosphere. This interaction locks in as much water as about half of the Atlantic Ocean.
“One of the things our team realized early in this study was that we needed to look at evidence from the last 10 to 15 years of exploration of Mars in relation to what happened to our findings about the Martian crust and in particular the nature of water in the Martian crust,” said Bethany Ehlmann. , study co-author and professor of geological and planetary sciences at Caltech.
Water can break down rocks through a process called chemical weathering, which sometimes keeps minerals hydrated. Hydrated minerals take in and store water, locking it in.
For example, gypsum, a water-soluble mineral found naturally on Mars, can keep its water trapped unless heated to temperatures higher than 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
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