Mars: water could disappear faster than expected

Water cycle in Martian atmosphere. When the Sun lights up the large reservoirs of ice at the poles, water vapour is released into the atmosphere. These water molecules are then transported by winds toward higher and colder altitudes where, in the presence of dust particles, they can condense into clouds and prevent a rapid and mass progression of water toward higher altitudes (as on Earth). On Mars condensation is often hindered. The atmosphere is thus regularly supersaturated in water vapour, which allows even more water to reach the upper atmosphere, where the Sun’s UV rays disassociate them into atoms. The discovery of the increased presence of water vapour at very high altitude entails that a greater number of hydrogen and oxygen atoms are able to escape from Mars, amplifying the loss of Martian water over the long term. © ESA

10/01/2020

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Centre National de la Recherche (CNRS)

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The French National Centre for Scientific Research is among the world's leading research institutions. Its scientists explore the living world, matter, the Universe, and the functioning of human societies.

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The small red planet is losing water more quickly than what theory as well as past observations would suggest.

The gradual disappearance of water (H2O) occurs in the upper atmosphere of Mars: sunlight and chemistry disassociate water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen atoms that the weak gravity of Mars cannot prevent from escaping into space. An international research team, led partly by CNRS researcher Franck Montmessin, has just revealed that water vapour is accumulating in large quantities and unexpected proportions at an altitude of over 80 km in the Martian atmosphere.

Measurements showed that large atmospheric pockets are even in a state of supersaturation, with the atmosphere containing 10 to 100 times more water vapour than its temperature should theoretically allow. With the observed supersaturation rates, the capacity of water to escape would greatly increase during certain seasons.