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Was Mars doomed to be a desert? Study proposes new explanation
MARS, JUL 2 – Study shows carbonate minerals trapped Mars' carbon dioxide, causing long dry periods and brief warm spells over 3.5 billion years, with data from NASA's Curiosity rover.
- A new study published in Nature explains why Mars became a barren desert despite once having liquid water, based on data from the Curiosity rover's discovery of carbonate-rich rocks in Gale Crater.
- Scientists led by Edwin Kite modeled Mars' climate over 3.5 billion years, proposing that carbonate formation locked away atmospheric carbon dioxide, causing Mars' greenhouse effect to fade and the planet to cool and dry.
- The model suggests that Mars experienced intermittent warm periods triggered by increasing solar brightness and orbital variations similar to Earth's Milankovitch cycles, but low volcanic activity prevented carbon dioxide replenishment, making liquid water rare and confined to oases.
- Edwin Kite explained that researchers have long sought evidence of where Mars’ atmosphere disappeared, highlighting that the planet’s surface rocks retain clues to this loss and that times when Mars was habitable have been unusual rather than typical.
- The findings imply Mars self-regulates as a desert planet and highlight the importance of continued rover missions and measurements to test carbonate distribution and better understand planetary habitability loss.
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kreiszeitung.de+2 Reposted by 2 other sources
On Mars there was once water – but a treacherous cycle made it a desert. A new study shows: the red planet contains a fatal secret.
Why is Mars deserted and uninhabitable, while life has flourished on a fairly similar planet Earth? The discovery of a NASA vehicle, presented in a study on Wednesday, suggests that if rivers sank sporadically on the red planet, it was doomed to remain desert.
·Montreal, Canada
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Was Mars doomed to be a desert? Study proposes new explanation
One of the great unsolved problems in modern planetary science is written on the surface of Mars. Mars has canyons that were carved by rivers, so it was once warm enough for liquid water. How—and why—did it become a barren desert today?
·United Kingdom
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Total News Sources17
Leaning Left1Leaning Right0Center6Last UpdatedBias Distribution86% Center
Bias Distribution
- 86% of the sources are Center
86% Center
14%
C 86%
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