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Newly published research suggests brines may not be as widespread as previously believed. If true, this could have a major impact on planning for future Mars missions and the prospects for eventual Mars colonization.
FULL STORY:
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-12/uoa-wom121020.php
PUBLISHED REPORT:
Global Temporal and Geographic Stability of Brines on Present-day Mars
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/abbc14
Water on Mars not as widespread as previously thought, study finds
Water on Mars, in the form of brines, may not be as widespread as previously thought, according to a new study by researchers at the Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences.
Researchers combined data on brine evaporation rates, collected through experiments at the center's Mars simulation chamber, with a global weather circulation model of the planet to create planetwide maps of where brines are most likely to be found. ...
The scientists took all major phase changes of liquids into account -- freezing, boiling and evaporation - instead of just a single phase, as has commonly been the approach in the past, said Vincent Chevrier, associate professor and first author of a study published in The Planetary Science Journal. ...
"It is looking at all the properties at the same time, instead of one at a time," said Chevrier. "Then we build maps taking into account all those processes simultaneously."
Doing so indicates that previous studies may have overestimated how long brines remain on the surface in the cold, thin and arid Martian atmosphere, Chevrier said. "The most important conclusion is that if you do not take all these processes together, you always overestimate the stability of brines. That is the reality of the situation."
Favorable conditions for stable brines on the planet's surface are most likely to be present in mid- to high-northern latitudes, and in large impact craters in the southern hemisphere, he said. In the shallow subsurface, brines might be present near the equator. ...
FULL STORY:
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-12/uoa-wom121020.php
PUBLISHED REPORT:
Global Temporal and Geographic Stability of Brines on Present-day Mars
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/abbc14