Why water on Mars still doesn't make sense

• Autores: Chelsea Whyte
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3113, 2017, pág. 25
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Whyte explains why water on Mars still doesn't make sense. Mars has ice caps, and there's evidence in the terrain that water flowed in rivers and lakes there billions of years ago. The problem is, no amount of CO^sub 2^ can warm Mars enough for liquid water. Even with an atmosphere of pure CO^sub 2^, the closest people get is -33°C. Not that the early Martian atmosphere was pure CO^sub 2^. A paper examined sediments laid down 3.5 billion years ago, and found that the atmosphere then contained only scant amounts of carbon dioxide. It also offered another alternative: water salty enough to remain liquid even at water-freezing temperatures. Then the atmosphere wouldn't need much CO^sub 2^.