On the origin of perennial water ice at the south pole of Mars: A precession-controlled mechanism?
The poles of Mars are known to have recorded recent (<107 years) climatic changes. While the south polar region appears to have preserved its million-year-old environment from major resurfacing events, except for the small portion containing the CO2 residual cap, the discovery of residual water i...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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HAL CCSD
2007
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Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-00181320 https://hal.science/hal-00181320/document https://hal.science/hal-00181320/file/Montmessin_et_al-2007-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research__Planets.pdf https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JE002902 |
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ftuniversailles:oai:HAL:hal-00181320v1 |
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openpolar |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines: HAL-UVSQ |
op_collection_id |
ftuniversailles |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
spellingShingle |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] Montmessin, Franck M. Haberle, R. Forget, François Langevin, Yves T. Clancy, R. Bibring, Jean-Pierre On the origin of perennial water ice at the south pole of Mars: A precession-controlled mechanism? |
topic_facet |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
description |
The poles of Mars are known to have recorded recent (<107 years) climatic changes. While the south polar region appears to have preserved its million-year-old environment from major resurfacing events, except for the small portion containing the CO2 residual cap, the discovery of residual water ice units in areas adjacent to the cap provides compelling evidence for recent glaciological activity. The mapping and characterization of these H2O-rich terrains by Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activité (OMEGA) on board Mars Express, which have supplemented earlier findings by Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor, have raised a number of questions related to their origin. We propose that these water ice deposits are the relics of Mars' orbit precession cycle and that they were laid down when perihelion was synchronized with northern summer, i.e., more than 10,000 years ago. We favor precession over other possible explanations because (1) as shown by our General Circulation Model (GCM) and previous studies, current climate is not conducive to the accumulation of water at the south pole due to an unfavorable volatile transport and insolation configuration, (2) the residual CO2 ice cap, which is known to cold trap water molecules on its surface and which probably controls the current extent of the water ice units, is geologically younger, (3) our GCM shows that 21,500 years ago, when perihelion occurred during northern spring, water ice at the north pole was no longer stable and accumulated instead near the south pole with rates as high as 1 mm yr−1. This could have led to the formation of a meters-thick circumpolar water ice mantle. As perihelion slowly shifted back to the current value, southern summer insolation intensified and the water ice layer became unstable. The layer recessed poleward until the residual CO2 ice cover eventually formed on top of it and protected water ice from further sublimation. In this polar accumulation process, water ice clouds play a critical role since they ... |
author2 |
Service d'aéronomie (SA) Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Space Science and Astrobiology Division at Ames NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD) Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) Institut d'astrophysique spatiale (IAS) Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales Paris (CNES) Space Science Institute Boulder (SSI) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Montmessin, Franck M. Haberle, R. Forget, François Langevin, Yves T. Clancy, R. Bibring, Jean-Pierre |
author_facet |
Montmessin, Franck M. Haberle, R. Forget, François Langevin, Yves T. Clancy, R. Bibring, Jean-Pierre |
author_sort |
Montmessin, Franck |
title |
On the origin of perennial water ice at the south pole of Mars: A precession-controlled mechanism? |
title_short |
On the origin of perennial water ice at the south pole of Mars: A precession-controlled mechanism? |
title_full |
On the origin of perennial water ice at the south pole of Mars: A precession-controlled mechanism? |
title_fullStr |
On the origin of perennial water ice at the south pole of Mars: A precession-controlled mechanism? |
title_full_unstemmed |
On the origin of perennial water ice at the south pole of Mars: A precession-controlled mechanism? |
title_sort |
on the origin of perennial water ice at the south pole of mars: a precession-controlled mechanism? |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00181320 https://hal.science/hal-00181320/document https://hal.science/hal-00181320/file/Montmessin_et_al-2007-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research__Planets.pdf https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JE002902 |
genre |
Ice cap North Pole South pole |
genre_facet |
Ice cap North Pole South pole |
op_source |
ISSN: 2169-9097 EISSN: 2169-9100 Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets https://hal.science/hal-00181320 Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets, 2007, 112 (E8), pp.E08S17. ⟨10.1029/2007JE002902⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1029/2007JE002902 hal-00181320 https://hal.science/hal-00181320 https://hal.science/hal-00181320/document https://hal.science/hal-00181320/file/Montmessin_et_al-2007-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research__Planets.pdf doi:10.1029/2007JE002902 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JE002902 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets |
container_volume |
112 |
container_issue |
E8 |
_version_ |
1799481573983125504 |
spelling |
ftuniversailles:oai:HAL:hal-00181320v1 2024-05-19T07:41:57+00:00 On the origin of perennial water ice at the south pole of Mars: A precession-controlled mechanism? Montmessin, Franck M. Haberle, R. Forget, François Langevin, Yves T. Clancy, R. Bibring, Jean-Pierre Service d'aéronomie (SA) Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Space Science and Astrobiology Division at Ames NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD) Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) Institut d'astrophysique spatiale (IAS) Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales Paris (CNES) Space Science Institute Boulder (SSI) 2007 https://hal.science/hal-00181320 https://hal.science/hal-00181320/document https://hal.science/hal-00181320/file/Montmessin_et_al-2007-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research__Planets.pdf https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JE002902 en eng HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1029/2007JE002902 hal-00181320 https://hal.science/hal-00181320 https://hal.science/hal-00181320/document https://hal.science/hal-00181320/file/Montmessin_et_al-2007-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research__Planets.pdf doi:10.1029/2007JE002902 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 2169-9097 EISSN: 2169-9100 Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets https://hal.science/hal-00181320 Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets, 2007, 112 (E8), pp.E08S17. ⟨10.1029/2007JE002902⟩ [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2007 ftuniversailles https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JE002902 2024-04-25T00:31:52Z The poles of Mars are known to have recorded recent (<107 years) climatic changes. While the south polar region appears to have preserved its million-year-old environment from major resurfacing events, except for the small portion containing the CO2 residual cap, the discovery of residual water ice units in areas adjacent to the cap provides compelling evidence for recent glaciological activity. The mapping and characterization of these H2O-rich terrains by Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activité (OMEGA) on board Mars Express, which have supplemented earlier findings by Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor, have raised a number of questions related to their origin. We propose that these water ice deposits are the relics of Mars' orbit precession cycle and that they were laid down when perihelion was synchronized with northern summer, i.e., more than 10,000 years ago. We favor precession over other possible explanations because (1) as shown by our General Circulation Model (GCM) and previous studies, current climate is not conducive to the accumulation of water at the south pole due to an unfavorable volatile transport and insolation configuration, (2) the residual CO2 ice cap, which is known to cold trap water molecules on its surface and which probably controls the current extent of the water ice units, is geologically younger, (3) our GCM shows that 21,500 years ago, when perihelion occurred during northern spring, water ice at the north pole was no longer stable and accumulated instead near the south pole with rates as high as 1 mm yr−1. This could have led to the formation of a meters-thick circumpolar water ice mantle. As perihelion slowly shifted back to the current value, southern summer insolation intensified and the water ice layer became unstable. The layer recessed poleward until the residual CO2 ice cover eventually formed on top of it and protected water ice from further sublimation. In this polar accumulation process, water ice clouds play a critical role since they ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice cap North Pole South pole Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines: HAL-UVSQ Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 112 E8 |