Refined Mapping of Subsurface Water Ice on Mars to Support Future Missions
Mars has an extensive yet poorly understood cryosphere. Nevertheless, both direct and indirect evidence indicates extensive buried ice across the midlatitudes, including locations where it is presently unstable. While much progress has been made in exploring the processes responsible for ice deposit...
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Planetary Science Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad9b24 |
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| author | G. A. Morgan N. E. Putzig D. M. H. Baker A. Pathare C. M. Dundas M. B. Russell M. R. Perry M. Chojnacki H. G. Sizemore A. M. Bramson E. I. Petersen S. Nerozzi R. H. Hoover Z. Bain |
| author_facet | G. A. Morgan N. E. Putzig D. M. H. Baker A. Pathare C. M. Dundas M. B. Russell M. R. Perry M. Chojnacki H. G. Sizemore A. M. Bramson E. I. Petersen S. Nerozzi R. H. Hoover Z. Bain |
| author_sort | G. A. Morgan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mars has an extensive yet poorly understood cryosphere. Nevertheless, both direct and indirect evidence indicates extensive buried ice across the midlatitudes, including locations where it is presently unstable. While much progress has been made in exploring the processes responsible for ice deposition and preservation during recent climatic fluctuations, a global assessment of the multiple ice reservoirs remains elusive. Motivated by science and the need to find suitable human landing sites, the Mars Subsurface Water Ice Mapping (SWIM) project has developed techniques to map out buried ice. Through integration of all appropriate orbital data sets, the SWIM project produces ∼3 km pixel ^−1 ice consistency maps over depth ranges of 0–1 m, 1–5 m, and >5 m. In concert with other studies, prior SWIM phases have recognized the uncertainty in our understanding of the geographic and vertical distribution of ice, especially between depths of 1 m and 10 m, creating a push for new ice-prospecting orbital missions, such as the International Mars Ice Mapper mission concept. Here we document the latest SWIM phase, which provides notional targeting maps of the lowest-latitude ice for future missions via a significant improvement in the geomorphic component of our work. The new mapping incorporates both an enhancement in our mapping of geomorphic features and surveys of thermal contraction crack polygons. Our results demonstrate the highly variable nature of the spatial distribution of the shallowest ground ice, with the most equatorward excursions occurring below 30° latitude N/S, locations thought to be out of equilibrium with the current climate. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2632-3338 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Planetary Science Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-615e4f72f57d4b0f8d2fdca94781fb1f2025-01-31T13:58:33ZengIOP PublishingThe Planetary Science Journal2632-33382025-01-01622910.3847/PSJ/ad9b24Refined Mapping of Subsurface Water Ice on Mars to Support Future MissionsG. A. Morgan0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9513-8736N. E. Putzig1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4485-6321D. M. H. Baker2A. Pathare3C. M. Dundas4M. B. Russell5M. R. Perry6M. Chojnacki7H. G. Sizemore8A. M. Bramson9https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4903-0916E. I. Petersen10S. Nerozzi11R. H. Hoover12https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0926-7513Z. Bain13Planetary Science Institute , 1700 East Fort Lowell Road, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA ; gmorgan@psi.eduPlanetary Science Institute , 405 Urban Street, Suite 300, Lakewood, CO 80228, USA ; nathaniel@putzig.comNASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USAPlanetary Science Institute , 1700 East Fort Lowell Road, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA ; gmorgan@psi.eduU.S. Geological Survey, Astrogeology Science Center , 2255 North Gemini Drive, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USAPlanetary Science Institute , 405 Urban Street, Suite 300, Lakewood, CO 80228, USA ; nathaniel@putzig.comPlanetary Science Institute , 405 Urban Street, Suite 300, Lakewood, CO 80228, USA ; nathaniel@putzig.comPlanetary Science Institute , 405 Urban Street, Suite 300, Lakewood, CO 80228, USA ; nathaniel@putzig.comPlanetary Science Institute , 1700 East Fort Lowell Road, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA ; gmorgan@psi.eduPurdue University , Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USAGeophysical Institute, University of Alaska–Fairbanks , 2156 North Koyukuk Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USAUniversity of Arizona , Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, 1629 East University Boulevard, Tucson, AZ 85721, USASouthwest Research Institute , 1050 Walnut Street, Suite 300, Boulder, CO 80302, USAPlanetary Science Institute , 405 Urban Street, Suite 300, Lakewood, CO 80228, USA ; nathaniel@putzig.comMars has an extensive yet poorly understood cryosphere. Nevertheless, both direct and indirect evidence indicates extensive buried ice across the midlatitudes, including locations where it is presently unstable. While much progress has been made in exploring the processes responsible for ice deposition and preservation during recent climatic fluctuations, a global assessment of the multiple ice reservoirs remains elusive. Motivated by science and the need to find suitable human landing sites, the Mars Subsurface Water Ice Mapping (SWIM) project has developed techniques to map out buried ice. Through integration of all appropriate orbital data sets, the SWIM project produces ∼3 km pixel ^−1 ice consistency maps over depth ranges of 0–1 m, 1–5 m, and >5 m. In concert with other studies, prior SWIM phases have recognized the uncertainty in our understanding of the geographic and vertical distribution of ice, especially between depths of 1 m and 10 m, creating a push for new ice-prospecting orbital missions, such as the International Mars Ice Mapper mission concept. Here we document the latest SWIM phase, which provides notional targeting maps of the lowest-latitude ice for future missions via a significant improvement in the geomorphic component of our work. The new mapping incorporates both an enhancement in our mapping of geomorphic features and surveys of thermal contraction crack polygons. Our results demonstrate the highly variable nature of the spatial distribution of the shallowest ground ice, with the most equatorward excursions occurring below 30° latitude N/S, locations thought to be out of equilibrium with the current climate.https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad9b24planetary climatesMars |
| spellingShingle | G. A. Morgan N. E. Putzig D. M. H. Baker A. Pathare C. M. Dundas M. B. Russell M. R. Perry M. Chojnacki H. G. Sizemore A. M. Bramson E. I. Petersen S. Nerozzi R. H. Hoover Z. Bain Refined Mapping of Subsurface Water Ice on Mars to Support Future Missions The Planetary Science Journal planetary climates Mars |
| title | Refined Mapping of Subsurface Water Ice on Mars to Support Future Missions |
| title_full | Refined Mapping of Subsurface Water Ice on Mars to Support Future Missions |
| title_fullStr | Refined Mapping of Subsurface Water Ice on Mars to Support Future Missions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Refined Mapping of Subsurface Water Ice on Mars to Support Future Missions |
| title_short | Refined Mapping of Subsurface Water Ice on Mars to Support Future Missions |
| title_sort | refined mapping of subsurface water ice on mars to support future missions |
| topic | planetary climates Mars |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad9b24 |
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