Related papers: The composition of Mars
In the giant impact theory for lunar origin, the Moon forms from material ejected by the impact into an Earth-orbiting disk. Here we report the initial results from a silicate melt-vapor equilibrium chemistry model for such impact-generated…
Rocky planet compositions regulate planetary evolution by affecting core sizes, mantle properties, and melting behaviours. Yet, quantitative treatments of this aspect of exoplanet studies remain generally under-explored. We attempt to…
Water has been stored in the Martian mantle since its formation, primarily in nominally anhydrous minerals. The short-lived early hydrosphere and intermittently flowing water on the Martian surface may have been supplied and replenished by…
We use the C/N ratio as a monitor of the delivery of key ingredients of life to nascent terrestrial worlds. Total elemental C and N contents, and their ratio, are examined for the interstellar medium, comets, chondritic meteorites and…
Computing the tidal deformations of Mars, we explored various Mars internal structures by examining profiles that include or exclude a basal molten layer within the mantle and a solid inner core. By assessing their compatibility with a…
Pebble accretion provides new insights into Earth's building blocks and early protoplanetary disk conditions. Here, we show that mixtures of chondritic components: metal grains, chondrules, calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs), and…
Relative abundances of refractory elements in planets are commonly assumed to reflect those of their host stars. However, because elements are classified according to their behaviour in the solar nebula, this implicitly assumes condensation…
We investigate the global seasonal variations of near-surface relative humidity and relevant attributes, like temperature and water vapor volume mixing ratio on Mars using calculations from modelled and measurement data. We focus on 2 am…
The isotopic signature of atmospheric carbon offers a unique tracer for the history of the Martian atmosphere and the origin of organic matter on Mars. Photolysis of CO$_{2}$ is known to induce strong isotopic fractionation of carbon…
The origin of the martian methane is still poorly understood. A plausible explanation is that methane could have been produced either by hydrothermal alteration of basaltic crust or by serpentinization of ultramafic rocks producing hydrogen…
In the next decade, two rovers will characterize in situ the mineralogy of rocks on Mars, using for the first time near-infrared reflectance spectrometers: SuperCam onboard the Mars 2020 rover and MicrOmega onboard the ExoMars rover,…
Earth is depleted in volatile elements relative to chondritic meteorites, its possible building blocks. The extent of this depletion increases with decreasing condensation temperature, and is approximated by a cumulative normal…
The Curiosity rover recently detected a background of 0.7 ppb and spikes of 7 ppb of methane on Mars. This in situ measurement reorients our understanding of the Martian environment and its potential for life, as the current theories do not…
A comprehensive study of Nitric oxide (NO) chemistry in the Martian upper atmosphere is restricted due to the lack of requisite measurements. NO is an abundant form of odd nitrogen species in the Martian lower atmosphere and its density…
A significant step in space exploration during the 21st century will be human settlement on Mars. Instead of transporting all the construction materials from Earth to the red planet with incredibly high cost, using Martian soil to construct…
The chemical composition of stars that have orbiting planets provides important clues about the frequency, architecture, and composition of exoplanet systems. We explore the possibility that stars from different galactic populations that…
Martian surface morphology implies that Mars was once warm enough to maintain persistent liquid water on its surface. While the high D/H ratios (~6 times the Earth's ocean water) of the current martian atmosphere suggest that significant…
Terrestrial exoplanets are of great interest for being simultaneously similar to and different from Earth. Their compositions are likely comparable to those of solar-terrestrial objects, but their internal pressures and temperatures can…
[Abridged] Combining a time-dependent astrochemical model with a model of planet formation and migration, we compute the carbon-to-oxygen ratio (C/O) of a range of planetary embryos starting their formation in the inner solar system (1-3…
The distribution and origin of serpentine on Mars can provide insights into the planet's aqueous history, habitability, and past climate. In this study, we used dynamic aperture factor analysis/target transformation applied to 15,760 images…