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Mars 'may contain huge ice deposits'



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A RANGE of hills on the Martian equator could contain vast quantities of frozen water, US scientists said last night.
Radar signals fired from an orbiting spacecraft suggest some 1.5 million cubic kilometres of water could lie beneath a layer of dust and sand.

The full article contains 51 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 01 November 2007 9:39 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Space science
 
1

Jason,

Japan 02/11/2007 01:25:41

Let's see, with astrophysics you use metric, right? So how far are we from establishing the first colony on Mars do you suppose? Brings a new meaning to "seek your fortune in the colonies."

2

'Suck' - McCrunchie,

mccrunchie AT hotmail D0T co D0T uk 02/11/2007 02:20:08

Mars 'may contain huge ice deposits'

We can global warm it next!

3

Boy Wonder,

02/11/2007 08:47:59

Getting that ice out and flowing again will be a titanic task!

4

Slioch,

Scottish Highlands 02/11/2007 09:15:58

Hmm. That is a huge amount of ice.

Mars has a diameter of 6,794km, so 1.5 million cubic kilometres of ice would, if it was melted, form a sea over ten metres deep over the entire surface of Mars, if Mars were a smooth sphere.

Of course, Mars has a fairly mountainous surface so melting the ice would produce a world of shallow oceans with numerous islands.

"Global warming" it, as #2 suggests, might not be impossible. Both water vapour and carbon dioxide, which is also present, are greenhouse gases. Once Mars had warmed sufficiently to evaporate the carbon dioxide and melt the water, it may be that it would be a self sustaining system, with sufficient water vapour and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as it is (or was!) on Earth. The problem would be kicking the system out of its present cold metastable state into a greenhouse warmed one.

It would certainly give us humans something to do, once we have sorted out the little problem of global warming on Earth, that is.

5

Guthrie,

02/11/2007 10:04:17

The best description of the colonisation of Mars is still Kim Stanley Robinsons Mars trilogy, which came out in the 90's. It describes warming the planet using CO2, halocarbons, and huge mirrors in orbit to add more sunlight. He drew on established science and possibilities which are definitely within our grasp in order to write the books.

6

Mart on Skye,

02/11/2007 10:35:35

Mars has an atmosphere with about 95% CO2.

Even though it receives less heat from the sun than earth it has been receiving it(according to some) for billions of years so one may assume that there would have been some warming during that time.

What's the explanation for it being cold since its not lack of CO2?

7

Guthrie,

02/11/2007 10:46:15

Lack of sunlight. Also, Co2 doesn't cover the entire range of infrared- thats why on earth water vapour is very important.

8

Slioch,

02/11/2007 11:32:37

#6&#7

An interesting question. I've done a bit of Googling to find out how much the CO2-greenhouse effect is on Mars. According to:

http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/mars....

"While the average temperature on Mars is about 218 K (-55 C, -67 F), Martian surface temperatures range widely from as little as 140 K (-133 C, -207 F) at the winter pole to almost 300 K (27 C, 80 F) on the day side during summer."

"Mars' thin atmosphere produces a greenhouse effect but it is only enough to raise the surface temperature by 5 degrees (K); much less than what we see on Venus and Earth."

(Whereas on Earth, "The greenhouse effect raises the average surface temperature about 35 degrees C above what it would otherwise be (from a frigid -21 C to a comfortable +14 C); without it the oceans would freeze and life as we know it would be impossible. (Water vapor is also an important greenhouse gas.)"

As far as I remember (sorry can't be bothered to check) CO2 is responsible for 3-4C of that greenhouse warming on Earth.

It is the lack of water in the atmosphere on Mars (only 0.03%) that is the killer, since water is an important greenhouse gas, - but if it were possible for the other means Guthrie mentions to raise the mean temperature on Mars then more water would evaporate and a self-sustaining warm system might (might!) be possible.

9

Guthrie,

02/11/2007 11:50:33

I think atmospheric density also matters- the Martian atmosphere is extremeely thin, so although it is 95% CO2, this doesnt mean much. The earths atmosphere at the top of Mount Everest is almost too thin to breath, but it is still roughly 21% Oxygen.

10

Slioch,

Scottish Highlands 02/11/2007 12:22:24

#9 Guthrie

Yes, the Martian atmospheric pressure at ground level is only about 0.7% of that at sea-level on Earth. (it varies because some of the CO2 freezes out in the winter at the poles).

Even so (using this figure) this still means that the amount of CO2 in the Martian atmosphere is much (about 17 times) greater than on Earth:

Mars:95% of 0.007 = 0.0067 bar

Earth: CO2 = 383ppmv
= 0.000383 bar

11

Cadgers,

Perth 02/11/2007 13:23:24

"Mars 'may contain huge ice deposits'" But not after being deep fried.

12

An English vo¡ce...,

02/11/2007 19:17:50

Interesting article

13

Charles Linskaill,

Edinburgh 02/11/2007 19:45:58

"Mars 'may contain huge ice deposits'"
Geezo, never tasted any in the one I ate!
As long as it helps me, 'work-rest-and-play'

14

49th State,

just right of center 02/11/2007 21:15:03

Colonise Mars? Who remembers the Bioshpere fiasco? We can't even get it right where we are designed to live!

15

Jaber,

Milwaukie, OR. USA 02/11/2007 21:58:59

If in fact water is there in the quantities stated it will be a boon to those going there in the future. It will be used as fuel for return rockets, fertilizer for crops, (after separation into its parts), for water for crops and people and livestock. See 1000 planets and MarsLivingNow on Yahoo

Jaber

16

DJRoster,

planet earth 29/01/2008 13:58:56
yes get a sample bring it back to earth and expose everyone to a deadly bacteria..behold the Martians lol

 

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