Martian Water? Sorry.

Summer on Mars is probably less habitable that previously thought. Evidence of abundant water in Martian magma or lava, may actually be caused by chlorine.

Even though we send probes to Mars pretty regularly, a lot of what we know of the planet actually comes from indirect observation. We don’t see large bodies of water on the planet, but from different observations we try to determine the amount of H2O in the atmosphere, on the surface, within rocks, and possible underground. To do this we need to look at the effect we expect water to have on these structures.

One way to measure the amount of water in the atmosphere is to determine how much infrared light is absorbed. Water vapor absorbs more than other gases. Those measurements need to be corrected for weather patterns, because those values can change frequently.

When looking at rocks, it is possible to see the effect water has had on them. In particular, water will create specific crystal patterns in the rock that can still be observed even after all the water has evaporated.

It was previously thought that Martian lava contained as much as 2% water. This was determined by looking at crystal patterns of meteors that come from Mars. 2% would provide a hefty source of H2O for the Martian water cycle.

New data published in the journal Geology suggests that these crystals were actually formed in a Chlorine rich environment on Mars. It seems as though Mars may be 2.5 times richer in Chlorine than Earth.

Click here to read the research abstract

copyright 2009 Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved. SCIENTIFIC STATION is a trademark of Brendan Craughwell. All rights reserved.