. Mars’ water supply had been so high about 4.3 billion years ago, that the ocean could have covered all the surface in an ocean that is 140 meters feet deep. This week scientists from NASA and European Space Agency made this announcement. It is likely the ocean would have formed in the northern part of the hemisphere where the surface level is lower and the depths may be greater than 1.6 km (1 mile). The Red Planet’s northern half would have had water cover approximately 50%. Mars is fourth from the Sun and, along with Mercury, Venus, Earth, it’s the second-smallest planet in the Solar System after Mercury. Because of its abundance iron oxide, Mars is known as “The Red Planet”. It’s a terrestrial planet, composed mainly of silicate rock or metals and has a thin atmosphere. A 4Billion year old artist’s impression showing how Mars might have looked. Image: ESO. Dr. Geronimo Villenueva is a NASA planetary scientist. He published a paper in Science this week. It reveals that the study gives a firm estimate of Mars’ water history, and how much was lost to space. This work will allow us to better understand Mars’ history. Normal and heavy water. The latest estimate of Mars’ water supply comes from detailed observation of H2O (a mixture of one and two hydrogen) and HDO (also known as semi-heavy or natural water). Because HDO is more dense than H2O it can be lost less quickly to space by evaporation. The HDO-to H2O ratio of a planet’s water loss is proportional to its total amount. Scientists distinguished H2O from HDO chemical signatures using both the W. M. Keck Observatory and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii. They also used ESO’s Very Large Telescope (European Southern Observatory) in Chile. The researchers were able to compare HDO and H2O concentrations and determine the amount of water that has been lost into space by determining how high the HDO fraction has risen. They can then estimate the amount of water Mars once had. Is Mars ever the same as Earth today? Ulli Keufl of ESO was a co-author and built the instrument used in the study. He said: “We found an ancient ocean more 100 million kms million (miles) away!” Because these are the largest water reservoirs on Mars, the poles contain most of Mars’ water. It is thought that the water in the polar areas documents the evolution of water on Mars from its wet Noachian period (which ended around 3.7 billion years ago) to today. New results from Mars show levels of HDO in Mars’ atmosphere seven times higher than Earth’s ocean waters. This suggests that Mars’ water ice caps are eightfold more enriched. Mars would have to have experienced a loss of approximately 6.5 times its current volume of solar radiation in order for it to become rich in HDO. It lost 87% all of its water. Mars had probably at least 20 millions cubic kilometers of water around 4.3 billion years back. The Northern Plains of Mars could have had 19% an ancient ocean. By comparison, the Atlantic Ocean occupies 17% on Earth’s surface. The fact that Mars has a smaller surface than Earth does not prove Mars’s ancient ocean was more water-rich than it is today. ESO Video: Mars 4 billion Years Ago Second-author Dr. Michael Mumma is an astrophysicist from Goddard. He said that Mars may have had more water than was previously believed. Some of this water might have even been below the surface. The researchers believe that new maps will provide data about microclimates, changes in water concentrations over time and could be useful for the ongoing search for underground water. NASA Video: Mars’ ancient ocean Geronimo Villenueva talks about water and how it has changed from its current levels.
