Mars Orbiter Finds Buried Dry Ice Lake

RedEaredSlider writes "NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has found a giant buried deposit of dry ice, which could be evidence that Mars once had a thicker atmosphere and was able to have more water on its surface. The orbiter's ground-penetrating radar found the dry ice, which is frozen carbon dioxide, near the planet's south pole. The scientists think that when Mars' axial tilt increases, the carbon dioxide turns into a gas, thickening the atmosphere. The result would be more intense dust storms, but also a wider range of areas where liquid water could exist."

Comments

Regarding the atmosphere..

[Anonymous Coward]

Mars isn't protected by a strong magnetic field like Earth is.. meaning the atmosphere is frequently subjected to solar winds and radiation.. meaning any thickening of the atmosphere is not likely to remain constant for any meaningful time period.

Re:Regarding the atmosphere..

[biryokumaru]

Doesn't that also mean that solar radiation is a cheap and abundant source of power? Is there the possibility of a surface-based Dyson-Harrop type system?

Re:Regarding the atmosphere..

[jd]

In the early days, the Martian core would not yet have solidified. Thus, the magnetic field would have been substantially stronger. The fact that it's still semi-liquid today (as evidenced by the fact that there's any magnetic field now at all) is the remarkable part of the story. 3-4 billion years ago, the Martian magnetic field would likely have been far more intense than Earth's is today. Hell, Earth's magnetic field a paltry 220 million years ago was 33% stronger than present by some estimates, and Earth's core is heated by thermonuclear activity. The Martian core likely isn't to any meaningful degree.

Back when briney oceans formed the Martian surface (we already know that part), Mars would have been a bad place for floppy disks.

Wowza

[MrQuacker]

The deposit is about 3,000 cubic miles, or about the volume of Lake Superior

Now thats a lot of CO2. Now the question is, what can we do with it? Are there any simple ways to turn it onto C and O2? I'm thinking graphite or carbor bricks/powder for radiation shielding, and O2 for breathing.

Re:Wowza

[DigiShaman]

I think a couple of thermonuclear warheads might break the ice a little. It might even raise the atmospheric pressure by a considerable amount, and thus raise the temperature. As for the fallout? Meh, it might not be that bad depending on the decay rate and how efficient the bombs are.

Re:Wowza

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Probably the easiest(in terms of being comparatively low-tech, easy to scale, and having numerous positive side effects), is a time-tested technology we call "Plants".

Given a few nutrients, a supply of CO2, and their favorite flavors of photon, those suckers are pretty efficient at turning CO2 into O2 and assorted carbon compounds, many with structural or culinary applications(and pretty easy to turn to straight carbon, if you prefer).

A hypothetical exploitation of these dry-ice deposits would presumably involve underground greenhouses(for protection from dust storms and insulation) lighted by LEDs emitting the correct bands for optimal plant growth, and provided with a moisture and CO2 rich environment by some sort of melting mechanism, probably mirrors or a radiothermal unit.

Re:Wowza

[rk]

I think so, Brain, but this time you wear the tutu.

Re:Wowza

[similar_name]

Are there any simple ways to turn it onto C and O2?

I can't resist. Plants. :)

Re:Wowza

[Dahamma]

See, this is why the human race is doomed. Every time we discover something new, the first thing we want to do is nuke it...

Re:Dry ice

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Actually, if you want to go for the +1 funny anticipation of the global warming troll, The argument should probably be that this is an example of What Carbon Sequestration Will Do... At the prodding of Al(ien) Gore and his envirofascist minions, the Martians turned their formerly habitable planet into a desert wasteland through reckless carbon sequestration spurred by the 'global warming' conspiracy...

Terraforming 101

[History's Coming To]

Nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure. Use a bunch of hydrogen bombs, or better a big parabolic death-ray....sorry, life-mirror, and vapourise the caps. Then scatter as much simple CO2 metabolising life as possible over the temperate regions. Sit back and watch evolution take hold. Might take a while. Just an idea...

Re:Terraforming 101

[alostpacket]

Wouldn't the problem be that the solar wind would just blow away the atmosphere? From what I understand Mars has a very weak and unstable magnetic field (unlike the Earth). http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast31jan_1/

Late-Breaking News from the Council

[Tackhead]

Laughter and derision swept through our world today as the Council of Elders confirmed the rumors that an orbiting mechanized invader from the sinister blue planet third from our star had been spending an inordinate amount of time examining one of our world's most commonly-available resources.

K'Breel, Speaker for the Council, stressed yet again that there was no cause for alarm:

"This invader last located the remains of the northern invader which stands frozen to the spot, its flailing futilely in the wind. If these beings seek to attempt a second invasion from the south, it shall meet the same fate as their last attempt three years ago. The fools! The resources they study are so common that they compose 95% of our air!"

When a junior climatologist pointed out that the atmosphere of the blue world, holding a mere 0.04% carbox, was sadly lacking in this vital atmospheric component, and that the blue world's inhabitants had not only spent centuries trying to generate much as possible of it to supplant their meager atmospheric supply, but had even murdered millions of their own kind in struggles for control of their world's vital carboxogenic hydrocarbounds, K'breel (in his infinite mercy) had the contents of the junior climatologist's gelsacs extracted, gasified with pure compressed carbox, and consumed it as a refreshing drink.

So?

[squiggly12]

Does this mean Quaid screws everything up???

Re:Grammar

[jd]

S's is horrible and all who use it should be shot. S' is the only correct form.

I really think they have it wrong...

[scorp1us]

Carbon dioxide is not the key here. After all, Mars and Venus are both primarily CO2 atmospheres (Earth:Nitrogen). However the two planets have vastly different temperatures, even after accounting for Venus's increased solar radiation. What I think is the key here, is pressure at the surface. Releasing more CO2 on Mars won't increase the greenhouse effect (diminishing returns), but it will make the surface atmosphere denser, which means higher surface temperatures, at least until it gets stripped away by the solar wind, because Mars does not have a protective magnetic field.

Which brings in my model of how it all got there. After the magnetic field died, the solar wind stripped the atmosphere until it wasn't dense enough to maintain liquid water... Then the same came true for gaseous CO2. Logically it accumulated in the first place it started to get cold enough to solidify. I doubt we'll see it get released due to 1) still not mag field and 2) its in the last place to heat up.

Re:It'd be more interesting if ...

[LWATCDR]

Umm... Gold is cheap compared to interplanetary travel. Heck even if you found a mountain of diamonds the size of basketballs it still wouldn't be worth it. I think gold would have to hit something like $100,000 and ounce to make hauling it from the moon practical. And rare earths? Just not that rare and no most currencies are not backed by gold reserves.