5 ms·

Mars has belts of glaciers consisting of frozen water

64 points by cryptoz 12y ago

thret 12y ago
So you could cover the entire surface with 1.1 meters of ice. Does this mean Mars has a higher water-to-surface-area ratio than Earth?
- jstanley 12y ago
  Well let's see, 70% of Earth is already covered in water, and the average depth of that is significantly greater than 1.1 metres. So, no, I don't think Mars has a higher water-to-surface-area ratio than Earth. Not by a long shot :)
  - sjs382 12y ago
    Well, surface area has a lot to do with the terrain. If Mars were a perfect sphere (which it's not), then it wouldn't take much water at all to have a high surface area water::land ratio
    - thret 12y ago
      Yes, I am not sure if they calculated this based on Mars being a perfect sphere or not. I did find this interesting image of all the water on Earth, compared to the size of Earth: http://water.usgs.gov/edu/gallery/global-water-volume.html http://water.usgs.gov/edu/gallery/global-water-volume.html
      - marcolinux 12y ago
        What a incredible image! If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one is a very representative one. Very well done. Congratulations to the team.
deleted 12y ago
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harperlee 12y ago
Does anyone know of a good Mars terraformation resource? I'm thinking 50-100 page pdf that would make for an interesting weekend read.
- _rpd 12y ago
  Closest I know of ... http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/zubrin.htm http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/zubrin.htm I believe Zubrin expands on it a bit in his book ... http://www.amazon.com/The-Case-Mars-Settle-Planet/dp/0684835509 http://www.amazon.com/The-Case-Mars-Settle-Planet/dp/0684835...
- BetaCygni 12y ago
  The Mars trilogy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy ) is a bit dated but fun. It's fiction though.
  - Stoo 12y ago
    I'm near the end of Green Mars at the moment. It's a fascinating story. I'm never sure if the science is accurate (not my forte) but it's definitely convincing and a compelling read.
- jimmcslim 12y ago
  Total Recall? Well... the last five minutes. "Get your ass to Mars."
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choppaface 12y ago
Is this the first confirmation that there is large amounts of water on Mars? Weren't we unsure there was any significant/useful amount of water just a few years ago?
- dredmorbius 12y ago
  Yes.
jgrowl 12y ago
So if we could cause mars to heat up, would oceans form or would it start to evaporate into space?
- kabdib 12y ago
  It's a lot of energy to make those oceans, on the order of decades of the total solar radiation that Mars receives (my SWAG is over 10 years just to get ice past the melting point). Something like 5E16 KJ, plus whatever you need to warm the ice up to 0C. Of course, this isn't practical. Once you do that, then, yeah. Water vapor rises, gets slammed by UV radiation and dissociated, and hydrogen goes thataway (not sure what happens to the oxygen, maybe it gets bound up in the soil?). It's pretty much how Mars lost its atmosphere to begin with. Not having a magnetic field is bad for the environment.
- jxcl 12y ago
  I am not an astrophysicist, but my understanding is that melting the ice would cause it to escape into space for at least two reasons: 1) Mars' core has cooled significantly, and it no longer has a powerful magnetic field to protect it from solar winds. Solar winds have the ability to take a polarized molecule like H2O and strip it from the atmosphere. It's also much easier to strip it from Mars because 2) Mars has a gravity of approximately 1/3rd of what Earth has. Combined, these two factors mean that Mars has an atmosphere that is 0.6% as thick as Earth's.
louhike 12y ago
The fact that there is water on another planet or a meteor seems to attract a lot of media attention. But is it reasonable as it seems almost impossible to retrieve this water for us now? Is there any interest in this fact (as helping to support life)? (I'm not saying it is not interesting, I just question why it gets more attention than other discoveries).
- angrow 12y ago
  I think at least some of the interest comes from the possibility of the water supporting _human_ life.

64 points by cryptoz 12y ago

thret 12y ago

So you could cover the entire surface with 1.1 meters of ice. Does this mean Mars has a higher water-to-surface-area ratio than Earth?

jstanley 12y ago
Well let's see, 70% of Earth is already covered in water, and the average depth of that is significantly greater than 1.1 metres. So, no, I don't think Mars has a higher water-to-surface-area ratio than Earth. Not by a long shot :)
- sjs382 12y ago
  Well, surface area has a lot to do with the terrain. If Mars were a perfect sphere (which it's not), then it wouldn't take much water at all to have a high surface area water::land ratio
  - thret 12y ago
    Yes, I am not sure if they calculated this based on Mars being a perfect sphere or not. I did find this interesting image of all the water on Earth, compared to the size of Earth: http://water.usgs.gov/edu/gallery/global-water-volume.html http://water.usgs.gov/edu/gallery/global-water-volume.html
    - marcolinux 12y ago
      What a incredible image! If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one is a very representative one. Very well done. Congratulations to the team.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

harperlee 12y ago

Does anyone know of a good Mars terraformation resource? I'm thinking 50-100 page pdf that would make for an interesting weekend read.

_rpd 12y ago
Closest I know of ... http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/zubrin.htm http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/zubrin.htm I believe Zubrin expands on it a bit in his book ... http://www.amazon.com/The-Case-Mars-Settle-Planet/dp/0684835509 http://www.amazon.com/The-Case-Mars-Settle-Planet/dp/0684835...
BetaCygni 12y ago
The Mars trilogy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy ) is a bit dated but fun. It's fiction though.
- Stoo 12y ago
  I'm near the end of Green Mars at the moment. It's a fascinating story. I'm never sure if the science is accurate (not my forte) but it's definitely convincing and a compelling read.
jimmcslim 12y ago
Total Recall? Well... the last five minutes. "Get your ass to Mars."

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

choppaface 12y ago

Is this the first confirmation that there is large amounts of water on Mars? Weren't we unsure there was any significant/useful amount of water just a few years ago?

dredmorbius 12y ago
Yes.

jgrowl 12y ago

So if we could cause mars to heat up, would oceans form or would it start to evaporate into space?

kabdib 12y ago
It's a lot of energy to make those oceans, on the order of decades of the total solar radiation that Mars receives (my SWAG is over 10 years just to get ice past the melting point). Something like 5E16 KJ, plus whatever you need to warm the ice up to 0C. Of course, this isn't practical. Once you do that, then, yeah. Water vapor rises, gets slammed by UV radiation and dissociated, and hydrogen goes thataway (not sure what happens to the oxygen, maybe it gets bound up in the soil?). It's pretty much how Mars lost its atmosphere to begin with. Not having a magnetic field is bad for the environment.
jxcl 12y ago
I am not an astrophysicist, but my understanding is that melting the ice would cause it to escape into space for at least two reasons: 1) Mars' core has cooled significantly, and it no longer has a powerful magnetic field to protect it from solar winds. Solar winds have the ability to take a polarized molecule like H2O and strip it from the atmosphere. It's also much easier to strip it from Mars because 2) Mars has a gravity of approximately 1/3rd of what Earth has. Combined, these two factors mean that Mars has an atmosphere that is 0.6% as thick as Earth's.

louhike 12y ago

The fact that there is water on another planet or a meteor seems to attract a lot of media attention. But is it reasonable as it seems almost impossible to retrieve this water for us now? Is there any interest in this fact (as helping to support life)? (I'm not saying it is not interesting, I just question why it gets more attention than other discoveries).

angrow 12y ago
I think at least some of the interest comes from the possibility of the water supporting _human_ life.