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- CRISM: Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars
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Tag Archives: climate change
HiRISE: The changing climate of Mars
A story of changes in the climate of Mars is told by icy deposits. Remnants of a formerly extensive deposit composed of dry ice layered together with dust and water ice form what is known as the south polar residual … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged climate change, climate cycles, south polar ice cap, south polar residual cap
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What two planetary siblings can teach us about life
Mars and Earth are like two siblings who have grown apart. There was a time when their resemblance was uncanny: Both were warm, wet and shrouded in thick atmospheres. But 3 or 4 billion years ago, these two worlds took … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged climate change, Earth, Elysium Planitia, InSight, Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations Geodesy and Heat Transport, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, life, NASA
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Early Mars: Arid, with occasional snow or rain
[Editor’s note: From a paper by Yo Matsubara, Alan Howard, and Ross Irwin recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.] Constraints on the Noachian paleoclimate of the martian highlands from landscape evolution modeling Evidences show that Mars was once wetter … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged climate, climate change, Noachis Terra, rain, snow, Terra Cimmeria, valley networks
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River and lake landforms in Melas Chasma
[Editor’s note: From a paper by Joel Davis and five co-authors recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.] Episodic and Declining Fluvial Processes in Southwest Melas Chasma, Valles Marineris, Mars • Episodic fluvial processes occurred in the southwest Melas … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged climate change, fluvial landforms, fluvial processes, lake bed sediments, Melas Chasma, open-basin lakes, paleolakes, Valles Marineris
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MAVEN: Loss of atmosphere drove climate change on Mars
MAVEN research shows that atmospheric loss to space has been the major process driving climate change on Mars. Research using MAVEN data indicates that Mars’ atmospheric loss over time has been at least 0.8 bar CO₂ or the equivalent of … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged atmosphere, climate change, Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, MAVEN, NASA, University of Colorado
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Mars minerology points to cold, icy ancient climate
The climate throughout Mars’ early history has long been debated – was the Red Planet warm and wet, or cold and icy? New research published in Icarus provides evidence for the latter. Mars is littered with valley networks, deltas and … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged clay minerals, climate, climate change, gypsum, iron oxides, polyhydrated sulfates, Sisyphi Montes, Sisyphi Planum, smectites, tuyas, volcanics, volcanism, zeolites
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Warmer, wetter early Mars: a geological and climatological case
The climate of early Mars is a subject of debate. While it has been thought that Mars had a warm and wet climate, like Earth, other researchers suggested early Mars might have been largely glaciated. A recent study by Ramses … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged climate change, climate cycles, glaciers, ice, valley networks
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History of Mars’ water, seen through the lens of Gale Crater
The surface of Mars today is cold, dry, and inhospitable to life. But was it always so? Past research indicates that the Red Planet may have been a very different world more than 3 billion years ago, with warmer weather, … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Aeolis Mons, calcium sulfates, climate change, climate cycles, Curiosity, Gale Crater, Mars Science Laboratory, Mount Sharp, MSL, NASA, Vera Rubin Ridge, water
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Valley networks point to much wetter past
A new study led by Northern Illinois University geography professor Wei Luo calculates the amount of water needed to carve the ancient network of valleys on Mars and concludes the Red Planet’s surface was once much more watery than previously … Continue reading
THEMIS: Pages from the south polar climate history book
THEMIS Image of the Day, February 22, 2017. Today’s VIS image shows part of the south polar cap. It is now summer in the region and the surface frosts are gone. The layers of ice comprising the cap are now … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Arizona State University, ASU, climate change, climate cycles, Mars Odyssey, NASA, south polar ice cap, south polar layered deposits, south polar residual cap, THEMIS, THEMIS Image of the Day, Thermal Emission Imaging System
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