Researchers from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC), in southern Spain, are leading a new method to measure variations in snow and frost carbon dioxide in the surface of mars and that in its first results it has pointed out that the thickness of these snowfalls is greater than estimated.
Like Earth, Mars experiences four seasons during the year due to a tilt in its axis of rotation that results in Martian autumns and winters during which Temperatures in the polar regions can drop below -195ºF or -125ºC.
This is the freezing temperature of carbon dioxide, an element that makes up 95% of the Martian atmosphere by volume, so it can be deposited on the surface of the red planet in the form of snow or condensing directly in the form of frost.
Annually, up to one-third of atmospheric carbon dioxide is exchanged between the atmosphere and the Martian surface through a seasonal cycle of deposition and sublimation, deposits that can extend from the poles to approximately 50° latitude.
If Paris were located on Mars, it would be covered by a thin layer of carbon dioxide snow and frost during part of the winter,” exemplified IAA-CSIC researcher Haifeng Xiao.
This expert added that the seasonal process represents a crucial volatile cycle on Mars, and its detailed study with high temporal and spatial resolution contributes significantly to understanding the global dynamics of the Martian climate.
SEE ALSO:
How much does it snow on Mars?
Estimating the thickness of this seasonal snow and frost could be key in the design of future missions to the Martian surface whose objective is to decipher the paleoclimate of the red planet by drilling the so-called North Polar Layered Deposits (NPLD).
These deposits are a set of layers of water ice and dust piled up on the Martian north pole over millions of years, a record that can provide valuable information about the climatic evolution of Earth and Mars.
Xiao and a team from the IAA-CSIC have proposed a new way to estimate the thickness of these seasonal deposits that analyzes the variations in the shadows of the ice blocks, detected in the high-resolution images of HiRISE, an instrument on board the Orbiter. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Mission (MRO).
Thanks to its impressive spatial resolution of up to 10 inches and a series of reasonable hypotheses about the distribution of snow and frost around these blocks, we have managed to unequivocally relate the length of the ice block’s shadow to its height,” noted the IAA-CSIC researcher Pedro Gutiérrez.
SEE ALSO:
With this new method, researchers have verified an increase in thickness due to the seasonal accumulation of snow and frost could reach up to 5 feet, two orders of magnitude greater than the average thickness predicted by previous models.
These parameters indicate that local storms associated with large accumulations of carbon dioxide may be more frequent and violent than previously estimated.
(With information from EFE)
RELATED:
NASA IDENTIFIES AREAS OF MARS WHERE IT IS MOST LIKELY TO FIND ICE
LAKE SEDIMENTS SIMILAR TO LAKES ON EARTH FOUND ON MARS
