Mars was Wet, but was it Warm?

May 31, 2010 by Leslie Mullen


On today, is frozen solid. The average temperature of the is negative 55 degrees Celsius (-67 F), and when the temperature rises -- the highest recorded temperature is a balmy 20 degrees C (68 F) -- this ice turns directly into a gas, skipping the liquid phase entirely because of the low .

Mars may have had a thicker atmosphere and on its surface between 3.5 and 4 billion years ago. Satellites orbiting Mars have taken images of ancient ocean shorelines, river beds and canyons - features all thought to be caused by flowing water. The chemistry of the also suggests that liquid water may have been present once on the surface. If so, then perhaps life could have emerged on Mars during this time in its history.

Many scientists think Mars was cold when it was young - cold enough so that surface water should have been frozen solid. One way around this problem is if the chemistry of the water was such that it could remain liquid at lower temperatures. On Earth, the salt in prevents it from freezing at the same temperature as freshwater. For early Mars to be cold but still wet, however, the water would have had to be much saltier than seems likely.









“We know the impacts occurred - we can see the craters there,” said Toon. “It's pretty much impossible to avoid there being large amounts of water coming from them.”
















Source:, by Leslie Mullen

4.9 /5 (11 votes)

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User comments : 10

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not rated yet May 31, 2010
This is a nice, interesting article, but I wonder how important it is for the planet to be both warm and wet. Is there any indication that you can't have life at low temperatures?
1 / 5 (1) Jun 01, 2010
This is bad news. Mars can never be terraformed, because there is no combination of gases that would make it warm enough for liquid water to exist.
1 / 5 (4) Jun 01, 2010
The assumption that water is needed for the formation of life is questionable. We now know clearly that the life-building block amino acids of proteins quickly dis-associate in the presence of water. So how can life have formed in water unless there was some kind of shielding that kept the water in check?
Basically, life forming spontaneously in water remains a highly improbable event - and biologists KNOW this. You need enzymes to stitch together the amino acids - but the enzymes themselves are proteins!!! A terrible chicken and egg situation to resolve.

I'm glad to see the two prominent scientists disagreeing on structures and possible processes. This is healthy and most welcome in a world dominated by a particular "scientific" point of view.
5 / 5 (2) Jun 01, 2010
Who told you that was at all relevant? If anything the fact they disassociate in water is vital.

Our form of life requires water otherwise lipids wouldn't be able to polymerize giving rise to cell walls and allowing for single monomer osmosis, wherein the amino acids would then polymerize and become trapped giving rise to karyotic cells as we now know them.

A little knowledge, misplaced, leads one down the wrong path.
1 / 5 (1) Jun 01, 2010
The article presents a number of facts, suggests and rejects numerous features and possible mechanisms, et c- so it basically summarizes the current state of our knowledge of Mars.

The one flaw that I can see is that the assumption has been made that all factors have remained static. But how do they know that Mars' orbit, for instance, has remained constant over the last 4.5 billion years?

Before you laugh, remember, it was an object roughly the size of Mars, that is supposed to have collided with Earth, and ejected the mass that formed our Moon.

Well? What we know for certain is that many things have changed- suddenly, and frequently catastrophically- in the solar system, so what I'm saying is that it may be profitable to think in terms of a bigger picture to explain the mystery of liquid water on Mars.
1 / 5 (1) Jun 01, 2010

Who needs terraforming? That costs too much and takes too long...

You simply build contained environments on the surface, and vaccuum up what little atmosphere there is and compress it into the living quarters.

With larger compressors running non stop, and with (soon) extremely automated mining and construction robots, a planet-wide mega-structure for housing, farming, and manufacturing could be completed in a fraction of the time required for the mythical "terraforming" project...
not rated yet Jun 01, 2010
Significant changes in the orbit of Mars will greatly change the conditions on the early Earth. That's a fairly improbable cause.
1 / 5 (2) Jun 01, 2010

No disagreement here. Catastrophism does provide insights into planetary formation/evolution.

First, I believe there is evidence to support the notion that most of Mars' water is still there, locked up in planetary glaciers. There is also evidence that Mars thaws out periodically for geologically long periods. And there is evidence of localized thawing, hot springs and volcanic vents. You wanna look for life like ours? Look there.

Then there is the question of Mars' unstable rotation. Apparently the poles of the planet are often flipped 90 degrees to the orbital plane, much like Uranus, causing each pole to face the Sun for six months a years. Talk about wrecking havoc on a weather cycle.

As for the atmosphere?
1 / 5 (2) Jun 01, 2010
Just a guess, but the impact that created Hellas Basin blew the majority of the original Atmosphere off the planet.

At around this same time (early Hesperian) the Tharsis volcanic province was created and the planetary magnetic field shut down. So ended the warm/wet Mars.
1 / 5 (2) Jun 01, 2010
Information on the thermal history of planets is important because that may shed light on energy source that sustains the Sun.

With kind regards,
Oliver K. Manuel