Mars ocean theory

"Oceanus Borealis" redirects here. Not to be confused with Arctic Ocean.
An artist's impression of ancient Mars and its oceans based on geological data
The blue region of low topography in the Martian northern hemisphere is hypothesized to be the site of a primordial ocean of liquid water.[1]

The Mars ocean theory states that nearly a third of the surface of Mars was covered by an ocean of liquid water early in the planet's geologic history.[2][3][4] This primordial ocean, dubbed Paleo-Ocean[1] or Oceanus Borealis (/oʊˈsiːənəs ˌbɒriˈælɪs/ oh-SEE-ə-nəs BORR-ee-AL-iss),[5] would have filled the basin Vastitas Borealis in the northern hemisphere, a region that lies 4–5 km (2.5–3 miles) below the mean planetary elevation, at a time period of approximately 4.1–3.8 billion years ago. Evidence for this ocean includes geographic features resembling ancient shorelines, and the chemical properties of the Martian soil and atmosphere.[6][7][8] Early Mars would have required a denser atmosphere and warmer climate to allow liquid water to remain at the surface.[9][10][11][12]

  1. ^ a b Brandenburg, John E. (1987). "The Paleo-Ocean of Mars". MECA Symposium on Mars: Evolution of its Climate and Atmosphere. Lunar and Planetary Institute. pp. 20–22. Bibcode:1987meca.symp...20B.
  2. ^ Cabrol, N. and E. Grin (eds.). 2010. Lakes on Mars. Elsevier. NY
  3. ^ Clifford, S. M.; Parker, T. J. (2001). "The Evolution of the Martian Hydrosphere: Implications for the Fate of a Primordial Ocean and the Current State of the Northern Plains". Icarus. 154 (1): 40–79. Bibcode:2001Icar..154...40C. doi:10.1006/icar.2001.6671. S2CID 13694518.
  4. ^ Rodriguez, J. Alexis P.; Kargel, Jeffrey S.; Baker, Victor R.; Gulick, Virginia C.; et al. (8 September 2015). "Martian outflow channels: How did their source aquifers form, and why did they drain so rapidly?". Scientific Reports. 5 (1): 13404. Bibcode:2015NatSR...513404R. doi:10.1038/srep13404. PMC 4562069. PMID 26346067.
  5. ^ Baker, V. R.; Strom, R. G.; Gulick, V. C.; Kargel, J. S.; Komatsu, G.; Kale, V. S. (1991). "Ancient oceans, ice sheets and the hydrological cycle on Mars". Nature. 352 (6336): 589–594. Bibcode:1991Natur.352..589B. doi:10.1038/352589a0. S2CID 4321529.
  6. ^ "Mars: The planet that lost an ocean's worth of water".
  7. ^ "NASA finds evidence of a vast ancient ocean on Mars". MSN.
  8. ^ Villanueva, G.; Mumma, M.; Novak, R.; Käufl, H.; Hartogh, P.; Encrenaz, T.; Tokunaga, A.; Khayat, A.; Smith, M. (2015). "Strong water isotopic anomalies in the martian atmosphere: Probing current and ancient reservoirs". Science. 348 (6231): 218–21. Bibcode:2015Sci...348..218V. doi:10.1126/science.aaa3630. PMID 25745065. S2CID 206633960.
  9. ^ Read, Peter L. and S. R. Lewis, "The Martian Climate Revisited: Atmosphere and Environment of a Desert Planet", Praxis, Chichester, UK, 2004.
  10. ^ Fairén, A. G. (2010). "A cold and wet Mars Mars". Icarus. 208 (1): 165–175. Bibcode:2010Icar..208..165F. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2010.01.006.
  11. ^ Fairén, A. G.; et al. (2009). "Stability against freezing of aqueous solutions on early Mars". Nature. 459 (7245): 401–404. Bibcode:2009Natur.459..401F. doi:10.1038/nature07978. PMID 19458717. S2CID 205216655.
  12. ^ Fairén, A. G.; et al. (2011). "Cold glacial oceans would have inhibited phyllosilicate sedimentation on early Mars". Nature Geoscience. 4 (10): 667–670. Bibcode:2011NatGe...4..667F. doi:10.1038/ngeo1243.