Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007agufm.p22a..03s&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #P22A-03
Other
5422 Ices, 5460 Physical Properties Of Materials, 5462 Polar Regions, 5470 Surface Materials And Properties
Scientific paper
Dynamical transport of gases with in the martian regolith controls many climatic processes, and is particularly important in the deposition and/or mobilization of shallow ground ice, as well as exchange of other volatiles between the martian regolith and atmosphere. A variety of theoretical studies have addressed issues related to ground ice dynamics on Mars and in the terrestrial analog environment of the Antarctic Dry Valleys. These theoretical studies have drawn on a limited set of empirical measurements to constrain the structural parameters controlling diffusion and flow in soils. Here, we investigate five groups of Mars-analog soils: glass spheres, JSC Mars-1, aeolian dune sand, Antarctic Dry Valley soils, and arctic loess. We present laboratory measurements of the structural properties most relevant to gas transport in these soils: porosity, tortuosity, permeability, bulk and intrinsic density, grain size distribution, pore size distribution and BET surface area. Our results bear directly both on the appropriateness of assumptions made in theoretical studies and on current outstanding issues in the study of shallow ground ice on Mars and the Dry Valleys. Specifically, we find that 1) measured values of tortuosity are lower than commonly assumed values by a factor of two to three; 2) diffusive loss of ground ice on Mars can likely proceed up to four times faster than predicted by theoretical studies; 3) soil permeabilities are sufficiently high that flushing of the soil column by bulk flow may further speed loss or deposition of shallow ground ice; 4) the pore volume in some Mars-analog soils is adequate to account for high volumetric ice abundances inferred from Mars Odyssey Gamma Ray Spectrometer data; and 5) superlative soil properties cannot resolve the on-going debate concerning the age of shallowly buried ice in Beacon Valley, Antarctica.
Mellon Michael T.
Sizemore Hanna G.
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