The red planet is not so red, it turns out that it hides some blue ones. An international team of researchers has discovered water in the form of ice in an unexpected area, near the equator of Mars, specifically in the Tharsis volcanoes. This was stated in a study published this week in the journal ‘Nature Geoscience’.
This is an observational finding that has been possible thanks to observations from ExoMars and Mars Express, two missions of the European Space Agency (ESA). Through high-resolution images, scientists were able to detect extensive morning deposits of ice water in the calderas of the Tharsis volcanoes (Olympus, Arsia and Ascraeus Montes, and Ceraunius Tholus) during the coldest seasons. In the afternoon, they are no longer present, they evaporate in sunlight.
Understand the water cycle
“Early morning surface temperatures at the high altitudes of volcano calderas are low enough to support daily condensation of frozen water,” argue the authors of the work, who add: “We suggest that the observed frost “It is of atmospheric origin, implying the role of microclimate in the formation of local frosts and a contribution to the broader water cycle of Mars.”
It is the first time that water ice formations have been detected at non-polar latitudes on Mars. Despite its thin thickness (about one hundredth of a millimeter), the amount of frost amounts to about 150,000 tons of water that pass from the surface to the atmosphere every day in the cold seasons (like Earth, Mars it has four seasons); the equivalent of 60 Olympic swimming pools.
It seemed impossible
In the words of the lead author, Adomas Valantinas, “we thought it was impossible for frost to form around the equator of Mars, since the mixture of sunlight and thin atmosphere keeps temperatures relatively high both on the surface and on top of the mountains. , unlike what we see on Earth, where you might expect icy peaks.”
This discovery is not only exciting in terms of scientific exploration of Mars, but also in terms of the search for signs of life beyond Earth.
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