Tag Archives: carbon dioxide

Mars hasn’t enough CO2 for terraforming

A new study of the quantity of carbon dioxide on Mars has compiled a planet-wide inventory of the CO2 it holds in all its accessible reservoirs: atmosphere, ice, and locked up in surface carbonate rocks and other potential sources. The … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

How Mars’ atmosphere lost its carbon

Mars is blanketed by a thin, mostly carbon dioxide atmosphere — one that is far too thin to keep water from freezing or quickly evaporating. However, geological evidence has led scientists to conclude that ancient Mars was once a warmer, … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

Tallying up where the Martian carbon went

Scientists may be closer to solving the mystery of how Mars changed from a world with surface water billions of years ago to the arid Red Planet of today. A new analysis of the largest known deposit of carbonate minerals … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Was nitrogen in the early Mars atmosphere a key to ancient habitability?

Scientists have long suspected that ancient Mars had a thicker atmosphere and temperatures warmer and far more habitable than at present. But modelers have difficulties making the numbers come out right,

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Methane in a flash

Martian methane is a hot topic because of its potential origin in biological, as well as geological processes. Observations (Earth-based and from Mars orbit) have found only a small quantity of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere of Mars — … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Seasonal flows of water on Mars

Finding water on Mars is nothing new. Scientists have known for years that water (as ice) lies in the polar caps and underground in high latitudes. However images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off