| Summary: | An inventory of released volatiles on Mars has been derived based upon Viking measurements of atmospheric and surface chemical composition, and upon the inferred mineralogy of a ubiquitous regolith, assumed to average 200m in depth. This model is consistent with the relative abundances of volatiles (except for S) on the earth's surface, but implies one-fifteenth of the volatile release of earth if starting materials were comparable. All constituents are accommodated as chemical components of, or absorbed phases on, regolith materials - without the necessity of invoking unobservable deposits of carbonates, nitrates, or permafrost ice.
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