Water in the terrestrial planets and the moon

Journal Article · Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1988 · Icarus; (United States)

OSTI ID:7023586

Liu, L G

Current thermal models for the terrestrial planets, with the exception of Mercury, point to the probability of a partial melting zone's presence in the mantles of both Venus and Mars, but not in that of the earth; this is attested by the fact that plate tectonics is not apparent on Mars and Venus. In addition, the CO/sub 2/-dominated atmospheres of Venus and Mars may indicate that a large-scale hydrosphere has never (or only very briefly) existed on these planets. Most of the free H/sub 2/O above the water line of Venus and Mars is probably still trapped inside mantle melts. 37 references.

• Research Organization: Australian National Univ., Canberra
• OSTI ID: 7023586
• Journal Information: Icarus; (United States), Vol. 74
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
EARTH PLANET
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
MARS PLANET
PLANETARY EVOLUTION
VENUS PLANET
GEOCHEMISTRY
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MOON
PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES
TECTONICS
WATER
ATMOSPHERES
CHEMISTRY
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANETS
SATELLITES
SOLAR SYSTEM EVOLUTION
640107* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Planetary Phenomena