Mars Without the Southern Perennial CO2 Cover
Abstract The Martian South Polar Layered Deposits (SPLD) are composed mostly of ice and dust with a thin perennial CO2 cover and some internal CO2 ice layers. In the North, the seasonal CO2 cap is lost during summer, allowing H2O ice to sublimate into the atmosphere. In the South, the perennial CO2...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113274 |
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| author | E. Vos O. Aharonson F. Forget |
| author_facet | E. Vos O. Aharonson F. Forget |
| author_sort | E. Vos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The Martian South Polar Layered Deposits (SPLD) are composed mostly of ice and dust with a thin perennial CO2 cover and some internal CO2 ice layers. In the North, the seasonal CO2 cap is lost during summer, allowing H2O ice to sublimate into the atmosphere. In the South, the perennial CO2 cover prevents H2O ice sublimation. This work uses the Mars Planetary Climate Model to investigate how the H2O and CO2 cycles are affected if the thin perennial CO2 SPLD cover is lost. We find that during southern summer, the atmospheric water content will more than double in the south polar region. However, on a global scale, the NPLD is still the dominant source of humidity because of its larger surface area. When exposing some of the South Polar Cap buried water ice, the south polar cap becomes the dominant source of atmospheric humidity due to Mars's spin‐orbital alignment. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0752ce828ffc4e99b2ee9ad77b5a22ae |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-0752ce828ffc4e99b2ee9ad77b5a22ae2025-08-20T02:52:30ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-02-01523n/an/a10.1029/2024GL113274Mars Without the Southern Perennial CO2 CoverE. Vos0O. Aharonson1F. Forget2Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot IsraelDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot IsraelLaboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/IPSL Sorbonne Université, ENS,PSL Research University, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS Paris FranceAbstract The Martian South Polar Layered Deposits (SPLD) are composed mostly of ice and dust with a thin perennial CO2 cover and some internal CO2 ice layers. In the North, the seasonal CO2 cap is lost during summer, allowing H2O ice to sublimate into the atmosphere. In the South, the perennial CO2 cover prevents H2O ice sublimation. This work uses the Mars Planetary Climate Model to investigate how the H2O and CO2 cycles are affected if the thin perennial CO2 SPLD cover is lost. We find that during southern summer, the atmospheric water content will more than double in the south polar region. However, on a global scale, the NPLD is still the dominant source of humidity because of its larger surface area. When exposing some of the South Polar Cap buried water ice, the south polar cap becomes the dominant source of atmospheric humidity due to Mars's spin‐orbital alignment.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113274MarsSPLDatmosphereiceCO2 iceViking |
| spellingShingle | E. Vos O. Aharonson F. Forget Mars Without the Southern Perennial CO2 Cover Geophysical Research Letters Mars SPLD atmosphere ice CO2 ice Viking |
| title | Mars Without the Southern Perennial CO2 Cover |
| title_full | Mars Without the Southern Perennial CO2 Cover |
| title_fullStr | Mars Without the Southern Perennial CO2 Cover |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mars Without the Southern Perennial CO2 Cover |
| title_short | Mars Without the Southern Perennial CO2 Cover |
| title_sort | mars without the southern perennial co2 cover |
| topic | Mars SPLD atmosphere ice CO2 ice Viking |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113274 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT evos marswithoutthesouthernperennialco2cover AT oaharonson marswithoutthesouthernperennialco2cover AT fforget marswithoutthesouthernperennialco2cover |