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Mars' Towering Volcanoes Reveal Unexpected Frost Patches

Wednesday 12 June 2024 - 14:20

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In an unexpected discovery shedding light on Mars' water cycle - crucial for future explorations - spacecraft orbiting the Red Planet have detected patches of frost atop the planet's massive volcanic mountains.

The remarkable scene was inadvertently captured by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) in the Tharsis dome region near Mars' equator, according to a study published in the scientific journal Nature Geosciences.

This vast elevated area, spanning approximately 5,000 km in diameter, is home to immense extinct volcanoes dormant for millions of years, including Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system, standing an astounding 22 km tall - three times the height of Mount Everest.

Adomas Valantinas, a researcher at Brown University in the United States, explains in an ESA statement that strong sunlight and extremely low atmospheric pressure "maintain temperatures at a relatively high level at the summits as well as at the surface."

The study's authors suggest the existence of a microclimate within the calderas, the vast circular craters of the volcanoes. Winds could ascend the mountain slopes, "bringing relatively moist air from near the surface to higher altitudes, where it condenses and deposits as frost," according to Nicolas Thomas, a co-author of the study.

This unexpected finding not only provides insights into Mars' water cycle but also has broader implications for understanding the planet's climate and potential for harboring life. The presence of frost at such high altitudes challenges existing models and prompts researchers to reevaluate their assumptions about the Red Planet's atmospheric dynamics.

As future robotic and human exploration missions to Mars take shape, this discovery underscores the importance of investigating these frost patches further. They could serve as potential sources of water, a critical resource for any long-term presence on the Martian surface.

While the exact mechanisms behind this phenomenon remain to be fully understood, the detection of frost on Mars' towering volcanoes opens new avenues for scientific inquiry and highlights the continued surprises that await us as we unravel the mysteries of our celestial neighbor.