|
The ESA probe
Mars Express which has been orbiting Mars for several years now
has measured the water content of the Martian atmosphere by way of
its SPICAM spectrometer. It found that the water concentration is
above the saturation point in a state called super-saturation. This
is the first time this type of measurement has been made on a global
scale. The results will help improve our understanding of Mar’s
weather.
This finding is consistent with
catastrophic Martian geology. If the pressure Mars' atmosphere
had temporarily been raised to allow surface water by dust from
impacts and volcanic activity, when Martian atmospheric pressure
dropped as this dust settled the resulting evaporation would
supersaturated atmosphere. This state would continue because the low
pressure makes rain impossible such that the only way to reduce it
is for the water to slowly bleed off into space. This further
suggests that this event happened relatively recently since the
water has not entirely bled off. |
