Seasonal Thaws under Mid- to Low-pressure Atmospheres on Early Mars
Despite decades of scientific research on the subject, the climate of the first 1.5 Gyr of Mars' history has not been fully understood yet. Especially challenging is the need to reconcile the presence of liquid water for extended periods of time on the Martian surface with the comparatively low...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acffba |
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| author | Paolo Simonetti Giovanni Vladilo Stavro L. Ivanovski Laura Silva Lorenzo Biasiotti Michele Maris Giuseppe Murante Erica Bisesi Sergio Monai |
| author_facet | Paolo Simonetti Giovanni Vladilo Stavro L. Ivanovski Laura Silva Lorenzo Biasiotti Michele Maris Giuseppe Murante Erica Bisesi Sergio Monai |
| author_sort | Paolo Simonetti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite decades of scientific research on the subject, the climate of the first 1.5 Gyr of Mars' history has not been fully understood yet. Especially challenging is the need to reconcile the presence of liquid water for extended periods of time on the Martian surface with the comparatively low insolation received by the planet, a problem which is known as the Faint Young Sun paradox. In this paper, we use the Earth-like planet surface-temperature model (or ESTM), a latitudinal energy-balance model with enhanced prescriptions for meridional heat diffusion, and the radiative-transfer code EOS to investigate how seasonal variations of temperature can give rise to local conditions which are conducive to liquid-water runoffs. We include the effects of the Martian dichotomy, a northern ocean with either 150 or 550 m of global equivalent layer, and simplified CO _2 or H _2 O clouds. We find that 1.3–2.0 bar CO _2 -dominated atmospheres can produce seasonal thaws due to inefficient heat redistribution, provided that the eccentricity and the obliquity of the planet are sufficiently different from zero. We also studied the impact of different values for the argument of perihelion. When local favorable conditions exist, they nearly always persist for >15% of the Martian year. These results are obtained without the need for additional greenhouse gases (e.g., H _2 , CH _4 ) or transient heat-injecting phenomena (e.g., asteroid impacts, volcanic eruptions). A moderate amount (0.1%–1%) of CH _4 significantly widens the parameter space region in which seasonal thaws are possible. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T22:01:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5b4b9d7666ad42b88d6a2a1eff8dd2f4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T22:01:01Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-5b4b9d7666ad42b88d6a2a1eff8dd2f42023-12-19T14:38:28ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-0196012710.3847/1538-4357/acffbaSeasonal Thaws under Mid- to Low-pressure Atmospheres on Early MarsPaolo Simonetti0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7744-5804Giovanni Vladilo1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7604-8332Stavro L. Ivanovski2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8068-7695Laura Silva3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7571-5217Lorenzo Biasiotti4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6068-8682Michele Maris5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9442-2754Giuseppe Murante6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5155-130XErica Bisesi7Sergio Monai8INAF—Trieste Astronomical Observatory , Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste, ItalyINAF—Trieste Astronomical Observatory , Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste, ItalyINAF—Trieste Astronomical Observatory , Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste, ItalyINAF—Trieste Astronomical Observatory , Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste, Italy; IFPU—Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe , Via Beirut 2, I-34014 Trieste, ItalyINAF—Trieste Astronomical Observatory , Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste, Italy; Department of Physics, University of Trieste , Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste, ItalyINAF—Trieste Astronomical Observatory , Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste, ItalyINAF—Trieste Astronomical Observatory , Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste, Italy; IFPU—Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe , Via Beirut 2, I-34014 Trieste, Italy; CNR—Institute of Geosciences and Georesources , Via Giuseppe Moruzzi, 1, I-56127 Pisa, ItalyINAF—Trieste Astronomical Observatory , Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste, Italy; IFPU—Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe , Via Beirut 2, I-34014 Trieste, Italy; CNR—Institute of Geosciences and Georesources , Via Giuseppe Moruzzi, 1, I-56127 Pisa, ItalyINAF—Trieste Astronomical Observatory , Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste, ItalyDespite decades of scientific research on the subject, the climate of the first 1.5 Gyr of Mars' history has not been fully understood yet. Especially challenging is the need to reconcile the presence of liquid water for extended periods of time on the Martian surface with the comparatively low insolation received by the planet, a problem which is known as the Faint Young Sun paradox. In this paper, we use the Earth-like planet surface-temperature model (or ESTM), a latitudinal energy-balance model with enhanced prescriptions for meridional heat diffusion, and the radiative-transfer code EOS to investigate how seasonal variations of temperature can give rise to local conditions which are conducive to liquid-water runoffs. We include the effects of the Martian dichotomy, a northern ocean with either 150 or 550 m of global equivalent layer, and simplified CO _2 or H _2 O clouds. We find that 1.3–2.0 bar CO _2 -dominated atmospheres can produce seasonal thaws due to inefficient heat redistribution, provided that the eccentricity and the obliquity of the planet are sufficiently different from zero. We also studied the impact of different values for the argument of perihelion. When local favorable conditions exist, they nearly always persist for >15% of the Martian year. These results are obtained without the need for additional greenhouse gases (e.g., H _2 , CH _4 ) or transient heat-injecting phenomena (e.g., asteroid impacts, volcanic eruptions). A moderate amount (0.1%–1%) of CH _4 significantly widens the parameter space region in which seasonal thaws are possible.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acffbaMarsAstrobiologyPlanetary climatesPlanetary atmospheresComputational methods |
| spellingShingle | Paolo Simonetti Giovanni Vladilo Stavro L. Ivanovski Laura Silva Lorenzo Biasiotti Michele Maris Giuseppe Murante Erica Bisesi Sergio Monai Seasonal Thaws under Mid- to Low-pressure Atmospheres on Early Mars The Astrophysical Journal Mars Astrobiology Planetary climates Planetary atmospheres Computational methods |
| title | Seasonal Thaws under Mid- to Low-pressure Atmospheres on Early Mars |
| title_full | Seasonal Thaws under Mid- to Low-pressure Atmospheres on Early Mars |
| title_fullStr | Seasonal Thaws under Mid- to Low-pressure Atmospheres on Early Mars |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seasonal Thaws under Mid- to Low-pressure Atmospheres on Early Mars |
| title_short | Seasonal Thaws under Mid- to Low-pressure Atmospheres on Early Mars |
| title_sort | seasonal thaws under mid to low pressure atmospheres on early mars |
| topic | Mars Astrobiology Planetary climates Planetary atmospheres Computational methods |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acffba |
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