Scientists have reckon how much H2O Mars may have once had – and it turns out it could be rather a lot .
The study published inNature Communications , run by Professor Wei Luo from the Northern Illinois University , estimates there may have been as much as 686 quadrillion cubic meters ( 15 nada ) , which is 10 times more than previous estimates and almost exactly half the amount of water on Earth ( 1,390 quadrillion cubic measure ) .
This seems to corroborate the idea that Mars had a lovesome climate and an active water cycle that evaporate and rain down again . This would also excuse how some of the canon on Mars mould likeValles Marineris , the largest canyon in the Solar System , which is 10 times the length of the Grand Canyon .
" Our most button-down estimates of the spherical volume of the Martian valley connection and the cumulative amount of water needed to carve those vale are at least 10 times greater than most previous estimates , " Luo said in astatement .
Most of the valley on Mars are more than 3 billion years old , which tie in with when we suppose the Red Planet had water . This is estimated anywhere from 3.1 to 3.8 billion twelvemonth ago , until the planet turn a loss its magnetic field and the atmosphere was spoil away , evaporating the water .
Luo used an algorithm to work out the amount of water that would have been needed to produce the vale networks . The H2O would have supposedly been reuse through the valleys many sentence , and only a large body of water would countenance this to happen . " I would suppose former Mars as being similar to what we have on Earth – with an ocean , lake , running rivers and rainfall , " Luo say .
Do n’t go packing your swimwear just yet , however , as the existence of the ocean is not guaranteed . For one thing , the concomitant trope seems dubiously large . It ’s 10 times bigger than has previously been estimated for thenorthern hemisphere of Mars , and it ’s 4,000 time greater than the intensity of the vale dental caries on Mars .
None of our models can presently make a Mars that was warm enough to support such an extensive water cycle . And we have n’t determine much strong-arm evidence for the ocean either . Speaking toGizmodo , Tanya Harrison from Arizona State University said that we currently “ do n’t see strong morphological evidence to keep going the former presence of an ocean . ”
We have visualize tentative evidence for anancient shorelineon Mars , however . So if this sea did exist , perhaps it was truly , completely , stupendously big .
