Where Mars’ water may have come from

The water once found on Mars may have come to the planet thanks to asteroids that bombarded the surface of Mars about 4.5 billion years ago. The research may have provided enough water to create a global ocean 300 meters deep from the asteroids.

Scientists have reached this conclusion thanks to the analysis of 31 meteorites from Mars discovered on Earth. These tempting results may point to a hidden reservoir of water that still exists on the Red Planet today. Additionally, the study is important for understanding not only the early history of the Red Planet, but also the history of Earth itself.

“Mars was bombarded by water-rich asteroids”

Martin Bizzarro, a cosmochemist from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and co-author of the new study, states that Mars was almost bombarded by water-rich asteroids, but also that it may have contributed to Earth or something, but it is very difficult to detect. “Unlike Mars, Earth has plate tectonics and the earliest records of our planet’s history have long since been erased,” Bizarro said. said.

Researchers also underline that not all of Mars’ water supply may come from asteroids. Because it is stated that more water may have reached the surface of Mars with the gas coming out of the molten mantle of the Red Planet. Of course, the level of this gas output is currently unknown, but in the future we can learn how much water is on Mars.

The amount of water that was once on Mars can be calculated

The answer to the history of water on Mars probably lies in the planet’s atmosphere. Because, as you know, Mars does not have a magnetic field and atmosphere that protects it from the Sun. Therefore, it is believed that even if there was water on Mars, it gradually disappeared into space. To that end, NASA’s MAVEN rover went to Mars in 2014 to measure the current atmospheric loss rate. This spacecraft will more accurately study the rest of the water molecules in the Martian atmosphere. As is known, water molecules are split into oxygen and hydrogen or deuterium atoms by ultraviolet radiation. Since deuterium is heavier than normal hydrogen, it doesn’t escape into space as quickly, so the ratio of deuterium to normal hydrogen on Mars must have been on an upward trend throughout history. Therefore, if the D/H ratio in the atmosphere is determined, the amount of water escaping into space can also be calculated.