Related papers: Circumpolar ocean stability on Mars 3 Gy ago
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…
A model for the formation and distribution of sedimentary rocks on Mars is proposed. The rate-limiting step is supply of liquid water from seasonal melting of snow or ice. The model is run for a O(10^2) mbar pure CO2 atmosphere, dusty snow,…
Present-day Mars is cold and dry, but mineralogical and morphological evidence shows that liquid-water existed on the surface of ancient Mars. In order to explain this evidence and assess ancient Mars's habitability, one must understand the…
The early Earth's environment is controversial. Climatic estimates range from hot to glacial, and inferred marine pH spans strongly alkaline to acidic. Better understanding of early climate and ocean chemistry would improve our knowledge of…
A large number of surface features (e.g., frost, gullies, slope streaks, recurring slope lineae) are observed on Martian slopes. Their activity is often associated with the specific microclimates on these slopes, which have been mostly…
In this paper, we analyze water ice occurrences at the surface of Mars using near-infrared observations, and we study their distribution with a climate model. Latitudes between 45{\deg}S and 50{\deg}N are considered. Data from the…
Carbon dioxide (CO$_2$) ice clouds have been routinely observed in the middle atmosphere of Mars. However, there are still uncertainties concerning physical mechanisms that control their altitude, geographical, and seasonal distributions.…
The history of rivers on Mars is an important constraint on Martian climate evolution. The timing of relatively young, alluvial fan-forming rivers is especially important, as Mars' Amazonian atmosphere is thought to have been too thin to…
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…
Water vapour atmospheres with content equivalent to the Earth's oceans, resulting from impacts or a high insolation, were found to yield a surface magma ocean. This was, however, a consequence of assuming a fully convective structure. Here…
We present a large ensemble of simulations of an Earth-like world with increasing insolation and rotation rate. Unlike previous work utilizing idealized aquaplanet configurations we focus our simulations on modern Earth-like topography. The…
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…
Despite decades of scientific research on the subject, the climate of the first 1.5 Gyr of Mars history has not been fully understood yet. Especially challenging is the need to reconcile the presence of liquid water for extended periods of…
Explaining the evidence for surface liquid water on early Mars has been a challenge for climate modelers, as the sun was ~30% less luminous during the late-Noachian. We propose that the additional greenhouse forcing of CO2-H2…
Mars' surface bears the imprint of valley networks formed billions of years ago and their relicts can still be observed today. However, whether these networks were formed by groundwater sapping, ice melt, or fluvial runoff has been…
The layered polar caps of Mars have long been thought to be related to variations in orbit and axial tilt. We dynamically link Mars's past climate variations with the stratigraphy and isotopic composition of its ice by modeling the exchange…
We investigate the effects of varying Saturn's orbit on the atmospheric circulation and surface methane distribution of Titan. Using a new general circulation model of Titan's atmosphere, we simulate its climate under four characteristic…
Early Mars may have had a warmer and denser atmosphere allowing for the presence of liquid water on the surface. However, climate model studies have not been able to reproduce these conditions even with a CO2 atmosphere of several bars.…
The variations of water density and thermal conductivity of the oceans cold region waters according to their salinity lead to suggest an hypothesis of an oscillating climate between two extreme positions: a maximum of hot temperatures and a…
The decay of the martian atmosphere - which is dominated by carbon dioxide - is a component of the long-term environmental change on Mars from a climate that once allowed rivers to flow to the cold and dry conditions of today. The minimum…