Water Frost Deposits Spotted on Tropical Martian Volcanoes

Jun 11, 2024 by News Staff

Using high-resolution color images from ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Mars Express missions, planetary researchers have found evidence for morning frost deposits on the calderas of the Tharsis volcanoes on Mars: Olympus, Arsia and Ascraeus Montes, and Ceraunius Tholus.



This image, obtained by the High Resolution Stereo Camera aboard ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, shows Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano not only on Mars but in the entire Solar System. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin.


The Tharsis region of Mars hosts numerous volcanoes, including Olympus Mons and the Tharsis Montes: Ascraeus, Pavonis and Arsia Mons. Many of these volcanoes are colossal, towering above the surrounding plains at heights ranging from one (Pavonis Mons) to three (Olympus Mons) times that of Earth’s Mount Everest.
These volcanoes have calderas, large hollows, at their summits, caused as magma chambers emptied during past eruptions.

“We thought it was impossible for frost to form around Mars’ equator, as the mix of sunshine and thin atmosphere keeps temperatures relatively high at both surface and mountaintop — unlike what we see on Earth, where you might expect to see frosty peaks,” said Dr. Adomas Valantinas, a postdoctoral researcher at Brown University. “Its existence here is exciting, and hints that there are exceptional processes at play that are allowing frost to form.”

The patches of frost are present for a few hours around sunrise before they evaporate in sunlight. Despite being thin — likely only one-hundredth of a millimeter thick (as thick as a human hair) — they cover a vast area.

The amount of frost represents about 150,000 tons of water swapping between surface and atmosphere each day during the cold seasons, the equivalent of roughly 60 Olympic swimming pools.

More:
https://www.sci.news/space/water-frost-tropical-martian-volcanoes-13006.html