Meteoric Evidence Suggests Mars May Have a Subsurface Reservoir

Monday, December 22, 2014

Meteoric Evidence Suggests Mars May Have a Subsurface Reservoir

Meteoric Evidence Suggests Mars May Have a Subsurface Reservoir:

According to recent findings, the water that once existed on Mars’ surface could be found underground. Credit: Kevin Gill

It is a scientific fact that water exists on Mars. Though most of it today consists of water ice in the polar regions or in subsurface areas near the temperate zones, the presence of H²O has been confirmed many times over. It is evidenced by the sculpted channels and outflows that still mark the surface, as well as the presence of clay and mineral deposits that could only have been formed by water. Recent geological surveys provide more evidence that Mars’ surface was once home to warm, flowing water billions of years ago.

But where did the water go? And how and when did it disappear exactly? As it turns out, the answers may lie here on Earth, thanks to meteorites from Mars that indicate that it may have a global reservoir of ice that lies beneath the surface.

Together, researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington and NASA’s Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division examined three Martian meteorites. What they found were samples of water that contained hydrogen atoms that had a ratio of isotopes distinct from that found in water in Mars’ mantle and atmosphere.

Mudstone formations in the Gale Crater show the flat bedding of sediments deposited at the bottom of a lakebed. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

This new study examined meteors obtained from different periods in Mars’ past. What the researchers found seemed to indicate that water-ice may have existed beneath the crust intact over long periods of time.

As Professor Tomohiro told Universe Today via email, the significance of this find is that “the new hydrogen reservoir (ground ice and/or hydrated crust) potentially accounts for the “missing” surface water on Mars.”

Basically, there is a gap between what is thought to have existed in the past, and what is observed today in the form of water ice. The findings made by Tomohiro and the international research team help to account for this.

“The total inventory of “observable” current surface water (that mostly occurs as polar ice, ~10E6 km3) is more than one order magnitude smaller than the estimated volume of ancient surface water (~10E7 to 10E8 km3) that is thought to have covered the northern lowlands,” said Tomohiro. “The lack of water at the surface today was problematic for advocates of such large paleo-ocean and -lake volume.”

Meteorites from Mars, like NWA 7034 (shown here), contain evidence of Mars’ watery past. Credit: NASA

In their investigation, the researchers compared the water, hydrogen isotopes and other volatile elements within the meteorites. The results of these examinations forced them to consider two possibilities: In one, the newly identified hydrogen reservoir is evidence of a near-surface ice interbedded with sediment. The second possibility, which seemed far more likely, was that they came from hydrated rock that exists near the top of the Martian crust.

“The evidence is the ‘non-atmospheric’ hydrogen isotope composition of this reservoir,” Tomohiro said. “If this reservoir occurs near the surface, it should easily interact with the atmosphere, resulting in “isotopic equilibrium”. The non-atmospheric signature indicates that this reservoir must be sequestered elsewhere of this red planet, i.e. ground-ice.”

While the issue of the “missing Martian water” remains controversial, this study may help to bridge the gap between Mars supposed warm, wet past and its cold and icy present. Along with other studies performed here on Earth – as well as the massive amounts of data being transmitted from the many rover and orbiters operating on and in orbit of the planet – are helping to pave the way towards a manned mission, which NASA plans to mount by 2030.

The team’s findings are reported in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

Further Reading: NASA

About Matt Williams

Author, freelance writer, educator, Taekwon-Do instructor, and loving hubby, son and Island boy!

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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the United States government agency responsible for the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958 with a distinctly civilian (rather than military) orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29, 1958, disestablishing NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The new agency became operational on October 1, 1958.

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The Oxford English Dictionary defines a UFO as "An unidentified flying object; a 'flying saucer'." The first published book to use the word was authored by Donald E. Keyhoe. The acronym "UFO" was coined by Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, who headed Project Blue Book, then the USAF's official investigation of UFOs. He wrote, "Obviously the term 'flying saucer' is misleading when applied to objects of every conceivable shape and performance. For this reason the military prefers the more general, if less colorful, name: unidentified flying objects. UFO (pronounced Yoo-foe) for short." Other phrases that were used officially and that predate the UFO acronym include "flying flapjack", "flying disc", "unexplained flying discs", "unidentifiable object", and "flying saucer". The phrase "flying saucer" had gained widespread attention after the summer of 1947. On June 24, a civilian pilot named Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine objects flying in formation near Mount Rainier. Arnold timed the sighting and estimated the speed of discs to be over 1,200 mph (1,931 km/h). At the time, he described the objects' shape as being somewhat disc-like or saucer-like, leading to newspaper accounts of "flying saucers" and "flying discs". In popular usage the term UFO came to be used to refer to claims of alien spacecraft. and because of the public and media ridicule associated with the topic, some investigators prefer to use such terms as unidentified aerial phenomenon (or UAP) or anomalous phenomena, as in the title of the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP).

UFO PHOTO PHOTOGRAPHY

UFO - Unidentified Flying Object An unidentified flying object, or UFO, in its most general definition, is any apparent anomaly in the sky that is not identifiable as a known object or phenomenon. Culturally, UFOs are associated with claims of visitation by extraterrestrial life or government-related conspiracy theories, and have become popular subjects in fiction. While UFOs are often later identified, sometimes identification may not be possible owing to the usually low quality of evidence related to UFO sightings (generally anecdotal evidence and eyewitness accounts). Stories of fantastical celestial apparitions have been told since antiquity, but the term "UFO" (or "UFOB") was officially created in 1953 by the United States Air Force (USAF) to serve as a catch-all for all such reports. In its initial definition, the USAF stated that a "UFOB" was "any airborne object which by performance, aerodynamic characteristics, or unusual features, does not conform to any presently known aircraft or missile type, or which cannot be positively identified as a familiar object." Accordingly, the term was initially restricted to that fraction of cases which remained unidentified after investigation, as the USAF was interested in potential national security reasons and/or "technical aspects" (see Air Force Regulation 200-2). During the late 1940s and through the 1950s, UFOs were often referred to popularly as "flying saucers" or "flying discs". The term UFO became more widespread during the 1950s, at first in technical literature, but later in popular use. UFOs garnered considerable interest during the Cold War, an era associated with a heightened concern for national security. Various studies have concluded that the phenomenon does not represent a threat to national security nor does it contain anything worthy of scientific pursuit (e.g., 1951 Flying Saucer Working Party, 1953 CIA Robertson Panel, USAF Project Blue Book, Condon Committee).

Photos of Nature | Nature Photography What is The Universe

Photos of Nature | Nature Photography What is The Universe

Monday, December 22, 2014