Knowing the Mars: Water on the Surface

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Knowing the Mars: Water on the Surface

Mars, our only hope for survival if we wanted to leave the Earth. It is the neighbour planet of Earth and the second smallest planet in the solar system. The Red Planet got everyone's attention when water was discovered on it. Today, water is present only at the North Pole in form of ice caps and beneath the carbon dioxide caps. Apart from water, the Martian atmosphere is the only suitable place to live, apart from the Earth. A very minute quantity of vapour is present in the Martian atmosphere. More than 5 million cubic km of ice is present on the surface of Mars. Hence it is possible to create an artificial lake or sea on Mars by melting those ice caps. There is no existence of liquid water on Mars. However, it is believed that a few million years ago, rivers were flowing on the Martian surface. 

Timeline of Water on Mars:

A few million years ago, Martian soil was thriving with liquid water. Evidence of flowing water (i.e river) and lakes were found during several studies. Also, the Martian atmosphere was much thicker and denser than it is today. But what could be the possible reason for Mars to become a dry, red planet? The answer is asteroids. The term 'Noachian' is used to refer to an era when Mars was under the impact of high rates of meteorites and asteroids. During that era, Mars under a 'Heavy Bombardment'. Almost every terrain we see today on Mars were created during the Noachian era. These craters and terrains are now the landing sites for rovers and robots.

During this era, Mars lost almost 60% of its atmosphere. The atmosphere became less and less dense. During the early Noachian era, a large number of lake beds, as large as the Caspian Sea was formed. Water must have accumulated there. However, there is also evidence of water entering the lake bed from one side and leaving from the other side. Around 200 Noachian lake beds have been found till today. 

During the Noachian era, the Sun was much younger than today. It was 25% less bright than today. Hence a large number of greenhouse gases were required to maintain water on Mars. Alone CO2 cannot hold water under much lower pressure. During the middle Noachian era, there was a spike in the bombardment. Now it was much easier for gases to escape the atmosphere. The middle era shows the loss of about 60% of argon, sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. At the end of this era, the Martian atmosphere was much thinner and less dense. Now it was very hard for atmospheric gases to hold the liquid water.

Gullies on Mars: 

Gullies are small, narrow channels found on Mars. In 2006, researchers find gullies that were less than 10 years old. Many of the researchers think that the possible reason for these gullies is flowing brine. While many think that these gullies were formed due to sand grains. Liquid water was once flowing through the gullies on Mars. Even if the gullies were formed by flowing water, their source and motion mechanism cannot be understood. Some gullies were found in the higher altitude regions like the peak of the mountain and the highest point of the craters. It is not possible for the flowing water to form gullies there.

RSL and its Hypothesis:

The seasonal flow of warm Martian slopes, also known as Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL) are thought to be the flow of salty water during the warmest months of Mars. There are many hypotheses for the formation of the RSL. One proposes that it is the flow of carbon dioxide (dry ice), but settings, where it flows, is too warm for dry ice. Another one proposes that it is the gradual flow of dry granular. Another hypothesis is avalanches. It suggests that the wind collects the dry ice at the top of the mountain and it finally goes down like an avalanche. The final one proposes the flow of brine (hydrated water).

The possible flow of brine can be the underground water that could reach the surface at springs. This water will absorb perchlorates and other salts present on the surface. 




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