Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007agufm.p13b1292s&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #P13B-1292
Other
5405 Atmospheres (0343, 1060), 5420 Impact Phenomena, Cratering (6022, 8136), 6225 Mars
Scientific paper
The existence of craters of size 200 km and greater proves that large (30-250 km diameter) impacts were abundant in the early history of Mars. Injected water from three sources (the impactor, water innate to the crater, and from melting of the polar caps) provide periods of rain following such impacts. Very hot, global debris blankets are another consequence of these large impacts, and these layers create a thermal pulse that propagates into the subsurface, melting additional water. The melted and precipitated water and debris blanket combine to produce a temporarily altered climate. This research shows time-dependent modeled calculations of this altered climate, and focuses in particular on a possible "runaway" greenhouse state that might be initiated as a result of the additional heat and a sufficiently rapid supply of the melted and precipitated water to the atmosphere. Our model is a 1-D radiative-convective model coupled to a 1-D model of the regolith to calculate the evolution of the surface and subsurface temperatures. The effects of latent heating, cloud condensation, precipitation, and evaporation are included in the model. We also show mathematically how the effects of large asteroid or comet impacts can cause a planet to reach the runaway greenhouse state, and illustrate how this solution is part of a bi-stable climate solution for terrestrial planets. One solution is found when a planet cools from high temperature, the other when the planet warms from a cool state. The hot solution represents a planet in the runaway regime, while the cold solution represents a planet with most of its water condensed at the surface. If a planet cools from a large temperature perturbation, caused by a large impact, it is possible that the planet will remain stable in the runaway climate rather than returning to the low temperature climate state.
Colaprete Tony
McKay Chris
Segura Teresa
Toon Brian
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