Researchers Claim to Find the Reason for the Loss of Water on the Planet Mars

One way scientists estimate how much water Mars has lost into space involves analyzing hydrogen levels in the atmosphere and its rocks.

Each hydrogen atom contains one proton in the nucleus, but some have extra neutrons, forming an isotope known as deuterium. Ordinary hydrogen escapes planetary gravity more easily than the heavier deuterium.

By comparing the levels of the lighter hydrogen atoms and the heavier deuterium atoms in the Mars samples, the researchers were able to estimate how much ordinary hydrogen may have been lost on the Red Planet over time.

Since each water molecule is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, this estimate of Mars hydrogen loss reflects how much Martian water has been lost, as solar radiation breaks down water on Mars into hydrogen and oxygen molecules.

In the new study, the scientists found chemical reactions may have caused anywhere from 30% to 99% of the water that Mars originally had to lock into minerals and buried in the planet’s crust. The remaining water is then lost to space, explaining the hydrogen-deuterium ratio seen on Mars.

Overall, researchers suggest Mars lost 40% to 95% of its water during the Noachian period about 4.1 billion to 3.7 billion years ago. Their model shows the amount of water on the Red Planet reached its current level about 3 billion years ago.

“Mars basically became the dry, arid planet we know today 3 billion years ago,” study lead author Eva Scheller, a planetary scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, told Space.com.

New estimates of the amount of water buried in the Martian crust vary widely due to the uncertainty of past water loss rates on Mars, Scheller said. He explained that NASA’s Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in February, could help refine this estimate, “because it will be heading towards one of the most ancient parts of the Martian crust, so it can help us understand past water loss processes to distant crusts. better. “

Although most of the water on Mars may still be locked in its crust, that doesn’t mean future astronauts to the Red Planet will easily extract that water to help them stay there, Scheller warns.

“Overall, there is still not much water in the Martian crust, so you have to heat a lot of rock to get a sufficient amount of water,” Scheller said.

Reporter: Lianna Leticia

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