Related papers: Near-tropical subsurface ice on Mars
In 2020, hydrogen chloride (HCl) in the gas phase was discovered in the atmosphere of Mars with the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) onboard the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) mission (Korablev et al., 2021). Its volume mixing ratio (VMR) shows a…
Observations of the South Polar Residual Cap suggest a possible erosion of the cap, leading to an increase of the global mass of the atmosphere. We test this assumption by making the first comparison between Viking 1 and InSight surface…
Abundant geomorphological and geochemical evidence of liquid water on the surface of early Mars during the late Noachian and early Hesperian periods needs to be reconciled with a fainter young Sun. While a dense CO2 atmosphere and related…
Carbon dioxide clouds, which are speculated by models on solar and extra-solar planets, have been recently observed near the equator of Mars. The most comprehensive identification of Martian CO2 ice clouds has been obtained by the near-IR…
The areal centroids of the youngest polar deposits on Mars are offset from those of adjacent paleopolar deposits by 5-10 degrees. We test the hypothesis that the offset is the result of true polar wander (TPW), the motion of the solid…
This article presents a monitoring of the atmospheric dust in the south polar region during spring of martian year 27. Our goal is to contribute to identifying the regions where the dust concentration in the atmosphere shows specific…
The biologically damaging solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation (quantified by the DNA-weighted dose) reaches the Martian surface in extremely high levels. Searching for potentially habitable UV-protected environments on Mars, we considered the…
Seasonal frosting and defrosting on the surface of Mars is hypothesized to drive both climate processes and the formation and evolution of geomorphological features such as gullies. Past studies have focused on manually analyzing the…
We present results of simulations with the Max Planck Institute general circulation model (MPI-MGCM) implementing a hydrological cycle scheme. The simulations reveal a seasonal water "pump" mechanism responsible for the upward transport of…
Mesospheric CO2 clouds are one of two types of carbon dioxide clouds known on Mars. We present observations of mesospheric CO2 clouds made by Atmospheric Chemistry Suit (ACS) onboard the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). We…
Recent findings suggest Mars may have been a clement environment for the emergence of life, and may even have compared favorably to Earth in this regard. These findings have revived interest in the hypothesis that prebiotically important…
Radar-bright basal reflectors have been detected below the South Polar Layered Deposits (SPLD), Mars using Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) data and have an exciting but controversial interpretation: liquid…
Before the seasonal polar ice cap starts to expand towards lower latitudes on Mars, small frost patches may condensate out during the cold night and they may remain on the surface even during the day in shady areas. If ice in these areas…
We report on the temporal variability of the occurrence of waves at the local proton cyclotron frequency upstream from the Martian bow shock from Mars Global Surveyor observations during the first aerobraking and science phasing orbit…
The decline of Mars' global magnetic field some 3.8-4.1 billion years ago is thought to reflect the demise of the dynamo that operated in its liquid core. The dynamo was probably powered by planetary cooling and so its termination is…
The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover has monitored the Martian environment in Gale crater since landing in 2012. This study reports the record of optical depth derived from visible and near-infrared images of the Sun. Aerosol optical…
Thermal (<1 eV) electron density measurements, derived from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution's (MAVEN) Langmuir Probe and Waves (LPW) instrument, are analyzed to produce the first statistical study of the thermal electron…
For the past several decades, numerous attempts have been made to model the climate of Mars with extensive studies focusing on the planet's dynamics and the understanding of its climate. While physical modeling and data assimilation…
The lunar history of water deposition, loss, and transport post-accretion has become an important consideration in relation to the possibility of a human outpost on the Moon. Very recent work has shown that a secondary primordial atmosphere…
Ice deposits on Earth provide an extended record of volcanism, planetary climate, and life. On Mars, such a record may extend as far back as tens to hundreds of millions of years (My), compared to only a few My on Earth. Here, we propose…