Seasonal CO2 Ice at Mid-Latitudes on Mars: Implications for Subsurface Water Ice

Details Seasonal CO2 Ice at Mid-Latitudes on Mars: Implications for Subsurface Water Ice Seasonal CO2 Ice at Mid-Latitudes on Mars: Implications for Subsurface Water Ice

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.p21c..07v&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #P21C-07

Physics

[5422] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Ices, [5464] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Remote Sensing, [5470] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Surface Materials And Properties, [6225] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mars

Scientific paper

The seasonal CO2 ice cap of Mars extends down to about 45° of latitude in the southern hemisphere. At more equatorward latitudes, patches of CO2 ice on pole facing slopes have been reported. We have studied the spatial and temporal distribution of these deposits using the near-IR orbital experiments OMEGA and CRISM. CO2 ice is observed down to 34° of latitude in the austral winter. We have compared these observations with the predictions of a one dimensional energy balance code derived from the LMD GCM. On mid-latitudes pole facing slopes, the model requires an additional source of heat to fit the observations. Changing the parameters of the model related to the ice deposits or to the incoming radiations within the range of known properties cannot account for this mismatch. The most plausible source of heat is a high thermal inertia layer buried below a dry regolith cover, with a latitude dependent depth. This is consistent with the presence of subsurface water ice at mid latitudes on pole facing slopes. The equatorward limit of shallow (< 1 m) subsurface ice as constrained from these observations is 25°S. This value is significantly lower than the current limit determined from low-resolution observations (up to 40° locally), which corresponded to shallow subsurface ice below flat surfaces. Some of the candidates landing sites of the Mars Science Laboratory rover, such as Holden crater, are compatible with our new limit.

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