Related papers: Warming Early Mars with Climate Cycling: The Effec…
The Martian obliquity cycle is predominately influenced by Solar and Jovian tidal forces. The present-day axial tilt of Mars (25 degrees) is predicted to cycle between 0 degrees and 60 degrees (Mischna & Richardson 2005) with excursions up…
The absence of global magnetic fields is often cited to explain why Mars lacks a dense atmosphere. This line of thought is based on a prevailing theory that magnetic fields can shield the atmosphere from solar wind erosion. However, we…
Global climate evolution models for habitable earthlike planets do not consider the effect of ocean salinity on land ice formation through the hydrological cycle. We consider two categories of such planets: planets with deep oceans, but…
Synchronously orbiting, tidally-locked exoplanets with a dayside facing their star and a permanently dark nightside orbiting dim stars are prime candidates for habitability. Simulations of these planets often show the potential to maintain…
The TRAPPIST-1 planets have become prime targets for studying the atmospheric and geophysical properties of planets around M-dwarf stars. To effectively identify their atmospheric composition, we first must understand their geological…
Cycling of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and interior of rocky planets can stabilize global climate and enable planetary surface temperatures above freezing over geologic time. However, variations in global carbon budget and…
Global temperature is a fundamental climate metric highly correlated with sea level, which implies that keeping shorelines near their present location requires keeping global temperature within or close to its preindustrial Holocene range.…
Water-rich planets such as Earth are expected to become eventually uninhabitable, because liquid water does not remain stable at the surface as surface temperatures increase with the solar luminosity over time. Whether a large increase of…
The potential habitability of an exoplanet is traditionally assessed by determining if its orbit falls within the circumstellar `habitable zone' of its star, defined as the distance at which water could be liquid on the surface of a planet…
Mars' polar layered deposits (PLD) are comprised of layers of varying dust-to-water ice volume mixing ratios (VMR) that may record astronomically-forced climatic variation over Mars' recent orbital history. Retracing the formation of these…
The problem of local (e.g., interplanetary) Hubble expansion is studied for a long time but remains a controversial subject till now; and of particular interest is a plausible value of the local Hubble parameter at the scale of the Solar…
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…
The Martian atmosphere experiences large diurnal variations due to the ~24.6 h planetary rotation and its low heat capacity. Understanding such variations on a planetary scale is limited due to the lack of observations, which are greatly…
Large alluvial fan deposits on Mars record relatively recent habitable surface conditions ($\lesssim$3.5 Ga, Late Hesperian - Amazonian). We find net sedimentation rate <(4-8) {\mu}m/yr in the alluvial-fan deposits, using the frequency of…
The periodical degassing from CO2 over-pressured reservoirs may have serious consequences for the environment making urgent understanding the processes and forecasting the frequency. Prediction though needs methods that depends from…
Space weather observations and modeling at Mars have begun but they must be significantly increased to support the future of Human Exploration on the Red Planet. A comprehensive space weather understanding of a planet without a global…
A giant impact is commonly thought to explain the dramatic contrast in elevation and crustal thickness between the two hemispheres of Mars known as the "Martian Dichotomy". Initially, this scenario referred to an impact in the northern…
Mars is the Solar System's canonical small, rocky planet that transitioned from early geologic activity and surface liquid water to a cold and arid planet with a thin, cold, CO$_2$-dominated atmosphere. The evolution of Mars, in the context…
The typical amount of molecular hydrogen (${\rm H_2}$) in interstellar ices is not known, but significant freeze-out of ${\rm H_2}$ on dust grains is not expected. However, chemical models ubiquitously predict large amounts of $\rm H_2$…
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…