The imprint of atmospheric evolution in the D/H of Hesperian clay minerals on Mars
550
13. Climate action
MSL-Radiation
D/H ratio
Mars
Gale crater
15. Life on land
01 natural sciences
520
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
DOI:
10.1126/science.1260291
Publication Date:
2014-12-17T05:40:22Z
AUTHORS (28)
ABSTRACT
Of water and methane on Mars
The Curiosity rover has been collecting data for the past 2 years, since its delivery to Mars (see the Perspective by Zahnle). Many studies now suggest that many millions of years ago, Mars was warmer and wetter than it is today. But those conditions required an atmosphere that seems to have vanished. Using the Curiosity rover, Mahaffy
et al.
measured the ratio of deuterium to hydrogen in clays that were formed 3.0 to 3.7 billion years ago. Hydrogen escapes more readily than deuterium, so this ratio offers a snapshot measure of the ancient atmosphere that can help constrain when and how it disappeared. Most methane on Earth has a biological origin, so planetary scientists have keenly pursued its detection in the martian atmosphere as well. Now, Webster
et al.
have precisely confirmed the presence of methane in the martian atmosphere with the instruments aboard the Curiosity rover at Gale crater.
Science
, this issue p.
412
, p.
415
; see also p.
370
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