Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Apr 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003eaeja.....2333h&link_type=abstract
EGS - AGU - EUG Joint Assembly, Abstracts from the meeting held in Nice, France, 6 - 11 April 2003, abstract #2333
Mathematics
Logic
Scientific paper
Beagle 2, the Lander of the ESA Mars Express mission, is scheduled to land in the Isidis Planitia basin in January 2004. The lander has a strong focus on exobiological studies. Therefore the prime question is, whether the landing site might provide an environment suitable for hosting exobiological activity. In order to address this question we have performed a detailed thermal modeling of the near surface temperature distribution using the Mars Surface Layer Thermal Model (MaSLaTMo) recently developed in our group. The model includes a detailed treatment of the energy transfer into the surface, including energy transported by gas flux and energy used to sublimate and provided by recondensation of volatiles within the surface. It allows to study the thermal and physical propertied of a near surface layer on Mars with a high spatial resolution. For the study presented here we have performed a 1D analysis up to a depth of 50m below the surface. We have assumed a porous base material layer with a constant heat conductivity, covered by a dust layer on the surface. The thermal properties of the dust layer have been derived from the the albedo and thermal inertia measurements as provided by the TES instrument on Mars Global Surveyor (Mellon 2000, Christensen 2001). A number of scenarios have been studied for the thermal and physical properties of the base material. As expected this has a significant effects on the temperature distribution in the first 1-2m below the surface. The modeling has shown that the first few centimeters below the surface are highly thermal stressed and therefore are most probably a hostile environment for biological activity. However the temperature gradient with depth is very steep and in only 10cm depth the temperatures do not vary more than approximately 10K over an annual cycle with a medium value of 200-230K depending on the thermal and physical parameters of the base material and dust cover. Farmer et al. (1979) noted, that subsurface pore ice in diffuse contact with the atmosphere will be stable on annual time scales wherever the temperature is always below approximately 200K. Following this argumentation, our thermal modeling can give a constraint on the minimal burial depth of possible subsurface ice deposits. If there is indeed subsurface ice at the landing site of Beagle 2 it is buried at least 1m below the surface. This is in agreement with the findings by Feldman et al. (2002) based on neutron flux measurement obtained by the Mars Odyssey spacecraft.
Benkhoff Johann
Helbert Jérôme
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