Frozen Lake on Mars

Is it inappropriate to say, Baby It's Cold Outside?

Vulgar. A violation of terms of conduct.

I was reading that and thinking about how just a few years ago they were showing us dark streaks and going is that evaporated water maybe, no?yes? no.? What else are they holding back?

Apparently all images were color corrected to make the place look Xtra boring too.

I believe this crater is in the northern hemisphere and the winter solstice on Mars was just last October 16 so I think it is premature to say this snow/ice will remain all year round somewhere in this crater. This is another world after all.

And if it does not remain year round, does that suggest that is snows on Mars?

Storm precipitation has never been noticed on Mars by planetary or terrestrial precipitation. I believe this is more of a frost or dew effect filling this crater than snow.

My curiosity is peaked as to how that moisture reached the crater. If most of that moisture was wicked up through the soil then there has to be a lot of sub-surface moisture. If most of that Northern moisture was previously Southern moisture then the total amount of water present on Mars will be smaller but much more readily available for capture once we arrive.

S - E Does this indicate that over time, mars will continue to lose its atmosphere until it is barren like our moon ? Is there any speculation to any hypothetical degree of accuracy as to the comparative age of the earth and mars, or is that apples to oranges ?

Can't you Google?

Yes, how silly of me to not realize the personal engagement.

Mars is cold, this much we know.

Eventually, after spending trillions of dollars we don't have, it may even become habitable. If we are not all obliterated first by global thermonuclear war.

Yes, Mars has been losing it atmosphere for the last ~4 billion years...and now has less than 1% of Earths' atmospheric pressure, well below what man could survive in without a pressurized spacesuit.... Mars is thought to have been formed about the same time as Earth, about 4.6 billion years ago ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Mars

Thank you.

Despite your analysis of the Wikipedia article, I think the question on the continuance of Mars' puny atmosphere is still open to debate. Various Martian orbital probes and telescopes have shown Martian atmospheric gasses leaving the planet but as the rover measurements and terrestrial experiments have shown new gasses are being formed on Mars, too.

So would you say the Martian atmosphere is growing, or is it dissipating, or perhaps it's in a state of stasis...? I would contend that it is continuing to wane and the gases are emanating from below the Martian surface...I would however concede that this may continue to be the case for millions, or perhaps even billions of years....

I believe that we do not know if the Martian atmosphere is growing or shrinking. Since the surface of the sun is expected to one day be larger than the orbit of Mars, it is not in a steady state. The universe itself is not in a steady state, thank goodness.

All we need to do to return the atmosphere to Mars is find the cave that the ancient aliens made with the huge steam generators and press the big 4-fingered button in the middle. It seems that finding the right cave that is proving difficult.

Philip K. Dick had quite the imagination, didn't he? The short story, We can remember it for you wholesale, may not have included that button. It's been a long time since I read the story.

Would that be frozen CO₂

According to this article, it is water ice, which is not rare on Mars. Liquid water is impossible on the surface of Mars because the atmospheric pressure (600 Pa) is lower than the pressure of the triple point of water (611 Pa), below which liquid cannot exist at any temperature. It's possible that liquid water could exist underground.

My, my, isn't that beautiful.

A large expanse of snow and ice, untouched by those with the mere thought of making their mark eternal by all matter of powered and unpowered device, let alone actually engaging in such behavior.

I guess you've never been to Antarctica...

Am I the only one questioning the information?

What's going on with the martian methane? Remember all the coverage?

things come and go..

Interesting stuff..

Who put that there? Fake news? Interesting either way.

So, it would appear that some aliens have stolen a lot of water and methane from Mars. What are they up to?

Getting ready to host a welcome home party for Elon?

He says he wants to die there.!?. That sounds easy enough to me.

________________

... I'd say the instrumentation need tweaks, the science is weak, and the information reeks. All in a matter of weeks. ...

I wish i knew what was going on..

I would say that first you need have a lake to then have a "frozen lake".

If this were somehow fresh fallen snow it would be remarkable. Possibly glacial even.

I not sure about the last time it snowed or rained on mars? ...but I think it's been awhile. Either way, it would have sublimated away a long time ago leaving a few less than snowboard friendly options.

imo

Radar sensing has disclosed what appear to be underground briny lakes. It seems likely that the crater may be fed from an underground lake. Korolev crater with its high and steep walls forms a "cold trap" that keeps the crater floor cold and presumably retains a high concentration of water vapor there, reducing sublimation.

"The stunning Korolev crater in the northern lowlands of Mars is filled with ice all year round owing to a trapped layer of cold Martian air that keeps the water frozen.

The 50-mile-wide crater contains 530 cubic miles of water ice, as much as Great Bear Lake in northern Canada, and in the centre of the crater the ice is more than a mile thick.

Images beamed back from the red planet show that the lip around the impact crater rises high above the surrounding plain. When thin Martian air then passes over the crater, it becomes trapped and cools to form an insulating layer that prevents the ice from melting...."

"...Evidence from orbiting spacecraft, rovers and landers reveals ancient water courses and lake beds on Mars. Vast quantities of frozen water have been found at the planet’s poles. In July, astronomers used Mars Express radar measurements to find what appeared to be a 12-mile stretch of briny water beneath the planet’s surface."

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/dec/21/mars-express-beams-back-images-of-ice-filled-korolev-crater

Hot news, there...