Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.p51d1159s&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #P51D-1159
Physics
[0343] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / Planetary Atmospheres, [3344] Atmospheric Processes / Paleoclimatology, [5405] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Atmospheres, [6225] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mars
Scientific paper
One- and two-dimensional global energy balance models of the Martian atmosphere have predicted that early in Martian history, for a range of initial total CO2 inventories, the CO2 atmosphere would precipitate and/or deposit until it reached a vapor pressure, or cap-buffered, state. This is commonly referred to as atmospheric collapse. Such a collapsed state may limit the amount of time available for physical and chemical weathering. The global energy balance models that predict atmospheric collapse represent the atmospheric heat transport, which controls atmosphere collapse, in terms of a single, globally uniform parameter. Atmospheric heat transport is an inherently three-dimensional, time-varying process, thus this parameterization is unavoidably the weakest link in any low-order (0-D and 1-D) energy balance model. Proper representation of the atmospheric heat transport is of critical importance when the atmosphere is near a significant transition, such as the threshold for collapse. The threshold for collapse may be controlled by the total CO2 inventory, the orbital parameters, and the solar insolation. Using the Mars Weather Research and Forecasting (MarsWRF) general circulation model, we investigate the details of the three-dimensional, time varying heat transport at the threshold for atmospheric collapse. As a control case, the climate dynamics associated with the atmospheric heat transport are determinedwhen Mars has an obliquity of zero degrees. In this situation, solar heating near the poles tends to zero, and ice deposition cannot be prevented in the absence of transport, regardless of the atmospheric thickness and greenhouse effect. Using this control case as a baseline, we then explored the effect of varying CO2 inventories and varying obliquities, from 5 degrees to 65 degrees, on the atmospheric heat transport, and thus the tendency for atmospheric collapse.
Mischna Michael A.
Richardson Mark I.
Soto Alejandro
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