Mars carbonate catastrophe explained

The Mars carbonate catastrophe was an event that happened on Mars in its early history. Evidence shows Mars was once warmer and wet about 4 billion years ago, that is about 560 million years after the formation of Mars. Mars quickly, over a 1 to 12 million year time span, lost its water, becoming cold and very dry. Factors in Mars losing its water and most of its atmosphere are: the carbonate catastrophe, loss of the planet's magnetic field and Mars' low gravity. Mars' low gravity and loss of a magnetic field allowed the Sun's solar wind to strip away most of Mars' atmosphere and water into outer space.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Carbonate catastrophe

Water, H₂O, is very abundant in the universe, so when Mars formed during the formation of the solar system it had water. ^[4] The water on early Mars reacted with atmospheric carbon dioxide. This reaction formed carbonic acid which became part of the water cycle on Mars.^{[5] [6]} The carbonic acid rain produced carbonates on the planet. The carbonates removed (leached) greenhouse gases, water vapor, and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Carbonates still exist on Mars. Early greenhouse gases came from Mars' early magma, planetesimals and comets. The carbonate catastrophe ended the Noachian time span. Mars' interior cooled, so it did not develop plate tectonics and a carbon cycle as Earth did. Thus, Earth did not develop a carbonate catastrophe. Mars' interior cooling also ended volcano activity on Mars. ^{[1] [3] [7] [8]}

Magnetic field of Mars

See main article: Magnetic field of Mars. There is evidence that early Mars had a magnetic field, like the magnetic field of Earth. The Magnetic field of Mars ended quickly after the formation of the planet as the core of Mars is made of much lighter elements and is much smaller than Earth's core.^[9] Without a magnetic field the Sun's solar wind, made of charged particles, including plasma, electrons, protons and alpha particles stripped away most of the atmosphere and water on Mars. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Gravity of Mars

See main article: Gravity of Mars. Mars' gravity is 62.5 % less than Earth, that is 100kg has a weight of about 980 Newtons on Earth would be about 367.5 Newtons on Mars. The low gravity is due to Mars' small size and also its lower density. Mars' mass is only 11% of Earth's mass. Mars' diameter is 4213miles and the diameter of Earth is 7926miles. ^{[13] [14] [15]}

Mars today

See also: Atmosphere of Mars, Climate of Mars and Martian soil. Mars today is very different than its early history, pre-carbonate catastrophe. Mars today:^[16]

• Mars' atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 1.6% argon. ^[17] Earth's atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon, 0.03% carbon dioxide.^[18]
• Mars has only about 0.7% of the atmospheric pressure of Earth. Mars' atmosphere is about 6.5 millibar, Earth's atmosphere is 1013 millibar. Surface of Mars is like Earth at 100000feet in the stratosphere.^{[19] [20]}
• Mars' atmosphere's humidity is 0.03%, Earth's average humidity is about 50% (lowest 0.36%, high 100%).
• Intense ultraviolet solar radiation, due to thin atmosphere.
• Intense solar radiation and cosmic rays due to lack of magnetic field.^{[21] [22]}
• Alkaline pH soil at 8.3, due to chlorine in the soil. Earth's average soil pH is about 6.5.
• Virtually no oxygen at 0.13%. Earth at about 21% oxygen.
• Mars is covered in dry iron oxide dust, has seasonal global dust storms, with a duration of about a month.
• Mars' average global temperature is NaNF, Earth's average global temperature is 57F.
• The seasonal Martian polar ice caps are mostly dry ice, frozen carbon dioxide atmosphere (CO₂).^[23]
• Comets falling on Mars bring some water and ice to Mars. The thin Martian atmosphere means the freezing, evaporation, and boiling point of water is all at the same temperature. Thus liquid water cannot exist on the surface of Mars .^[24]

See also

• Chloride-bearing deposits on Mars
• Composition of Mars
• Geology of Mars
• List of quadrangles on Mars
• List of rocks on Mars
• Martian soil
• Mineralogy of Mars
• Ore resources on Mars

Notes and References

1. Web site: Argyre Basin on Mars. Wally. Mayo. December 27, 2022.
2. Web site: Scientists Find the Remains of a Catastrophe on Mars Scattered Across the Planet. July 4, 2023. Inverse.
3. Web site: Comparing Mars to Earth: Catastrophe and history. EurekAlert!.
4. Web site: Water Is Common In The Universe, But It Might Not Be Abundant On Alien Worlds. Brian. Koberlein. Forbes.
5. Strazzulla . G. . Brucato . J.R. . Cimino . G. . Palumbo . M.E. . Carbonic acid on Mars? . Planetary and Space Science . November 1996 . 44 . 11 . 1447–1450 . 10.1016/S0032-0633(96)00079-7 . 1996P&SS...44.1447S .
6. The Martian ocean: First acid, then alkaline. M. W.. Schaefer. September 12, 1992. Lunar and Planetary Inst., MSATT Workshop on Chemical Weathering on Mars. ntrs.nasa.gov.
7. News: Buried lakes of liquid water discovered on Mars. September 29, 2020. www.bbc.com.
8. Leask . Ellen K. . Ehlmann . Bethany L. . Evidence for Deposition of Chloride on Mars From Small-Volume Surface Water Events Into the Late Hesperian-Early Amazonian . AGU Advances . February 2022 . 3 . 1 . 10.1029/2021AV000534 . 2022AGUA....300534L .
9. Green . James . Boardsen . Scott . Dong . Chuanfei . Magnetospheres of Terrestrial Exoplanets and Exomoons: Implications for Habitability and Detection . The Astrophysical Journal Letters . February 2021 . 907 . 2 . L45 . 10.3847/2041-8213/abd93a . free . 2012.11694 . 2021ApJ...907L..45G .
10. Time History of the Martian Dynamo from Crater Magnetic Field Analysis Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 118, no. 7 (July 2013), by Robert J. Lillis et al., page 1488–1511
11. Timing of the Martian Dynamo Nature 408, by G. Schubert, C. T. Russell, and W. B. Moore, December 7, 2000: page 666–667
12. Langlais . Benoit . Thébault . Erwan . Houliez . Aymeric . Purucker . Michael E. . Lillis . Robert J. . 2019 . A New Model of the Crustal Magnetic Field of Mars Using MGS and MAVEN . Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets . en . 124 . 6 . 1542–1569 . 10.1029/2018JE005854 . 2169-9100 . 8793354 . 35096494. 2019JGRE..124.1542L .
13. Hirt. C.. Claessens. S.J.. Kuhn. M.. Featherstone. W.E.. Kilometer-resolution gravity field of Mars: MGM2011. Planetary and Space Science. 67. 1. 147–154. 10.1016/j.pss.2012.02.006. 2012. 2012P&SS...67..147H. 20.500.11937/32270. free.
14. Jacobson, R. A. (2008). Ephemerides of the Martian Satellites—MAR080. JPL IOM 343R–08–006.
15. Lemoine. F. G.. Smith. D. E.. Rowlands. D. D.. Zuber. M. T.. Neumann. G. A.. Chinn. D. S.. Pavlis. D. E.. 2001-10-25. An improved solution of the gravity field of Mars (GMM-2B) from Mars Global Surveyor. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. en. 106. E10. 23359–23376. 10.1029/2000je001426. 2156-2202. 2001JGR...10623359L. free.
16. Web site: Mars: Facts - NASA Science. science.nasa.gov.
17. Franz. Heather B.. Trainer. Melissa G.. Malespin. Charles A.. Mahaffy. Paul R.. Atreya. Sushil K.. Becker. Richard H.. Benna. Mehdi. Conrad. Pamela G.. Eigenbrode. Jennifer L.. 2017-04-01. Initial SAM calibration gas experiments on Mars: Quadrupole mass spectrometer results and implications. Planetary and Space Science. 138. 44–54. 10.1016/j.pss.2017.01.014. 0032-0633. 2017P&SS..138...44F.
18. Web site: Atmosphere. education.nationalgeographic.org.
19. Web site: Mars. mars.nasa.gov.
20. Web site: NDBC - Science Education - What is air pressure?. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. US Department of Commerce. www.ndbc.noaa.gov.
21. Web site: Radiation Remains a Problem for Any Mission to Mars. Smithsonian. Magazine. Nola Taylor. Redd. Smithsonian Magazine.
22. Web site: How bad is the radiation on Mars?. Matt. Williams. Universe. Today. phys.org.
23. Hess . S. . Henry . R. . Tillman . J. . 1979 . The seasonal variation of atmospheric pressure on Mars as affected by the south polar cap . Journal of Geophysical Research . 84 . 2923–2927 . 10.1029/JB084iB06p02923 . 1979JGR....84.2923H.
24. Web site: Mars & Comets - NASA. mars.nasa.gov.