Duration of liquid water habitats on early Mars

Journal Article · Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · Icarus (International Journal of the Solar System); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0019-1035(91)90102-Y· OSTI ID:5515456

Mckay, C P; Davis, W L ^[1]

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1. NASA, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA (USA)

The duration of ice-covered lakes after the initial freezing of the early Mars is presently estimated via a climate model whose critical parameter is the existence of peak seasonal temperatures above freezing, and in which the variability of insolation is included. Under conditions in which meltwater was supplied by an ice source, it is found that water habitats could have been maintained under relatively thin ice sheets for as many as 700 million years after the onset of below-freezing global temperatures. The duration of such habitats on the early Mars therefore exceeds the upper limit of the time envisioned for the emergence of aquatic life on earth. 45 refs.

• OSTI ID: 5515456
• Journal Information: Icarus (International Journal of the Solar System); (United States), Vol. 90; ISSN 0019-1035
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
MARS PLANET
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
PLANETARY EVOLUTION
CARBON DIOXIDE
CLIMATES
ICE
LIMITING VALUES
LIQUIDS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MELTING POINTS
SOLAR RADIATION
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
WATER
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
FLUIDS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PLANETS
RADIATIONS
SOLAR SYSTEM EVOLUTION
STELLAR RADIATION
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
TRANSITION TEMPERATURE
640107* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Planetary Phenomena