Martian surface/near‐surface water inventory: Sources, sinks, and changes with time
Open accessAbstract
Today, a 34 m global equivalent water layer (GEL) lies in the Martian polar‐layered deposits and shallow ground ice. During the Amazonian, 3 m was outgassed, and 31 m was lost to space and to the surface, leaving 62 m at the end of Hesperian. During the Hesperian, volcanic outgassing added 5 m, 7 m was lost, and 40 m GEL of groundwater was added to form outflow channels, leaving 24 m carryover of surface water from the Noachian into the Hesperian. The Hesperian budget is incompatible with a northern ocean during this era. These figures are for near‐surface water; substantial amounts of water may have existed as deep ground ice and groundwater. Our estimate of approximately 24 m near‐surface water in the Late Noachian is insufficient to support an ocean at that time also and favors episodic melting of an icy highlands to produce the fluvial and lacustrine features.
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Most estimates place the early Martian water inventory below a few hundred meters GEL.
“Although the uncertainty is considerable, most estimates place the early Martian water inventory below a few hundred meters GEL.”
From The Climate of Early Mars (2016) · cites this paper as Carr & Head 2015
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References 58 · Cited by 160
- Authors
- Carr, M. H., & Head, J. W.
- Affiliations
- United States Geological Survey (US)
- Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences Brown University Providence Rhode Island USA
- Corresponding author
- Carr, M. H.
- ORCID
- Carr, M. H.
- Venue
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 2015-02-13
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 726-732
- ISSN
- 0094-8276 (ISSN-L)
- 1944-8007
- OpenAlex
- W1498786100
- Cited by
- 160
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 6
- FWCI
- 9.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Geophysical Research Letters (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- NASA Mars Data Analysis Program (NNX11AI81G)
- Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera Team (JPL 1488322)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Planetary Science and Exploration
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Keywords
- near-surface water, ground ice, groundwater, polar layered deposits, Amazonian period, Hesperian period, Late Noachian, volcanic outgassing, outflow channels, water balance
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