News: 0175133507

  ARM Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life (Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

Ancient Martian Atmosphere May Be Sequestered In Clay (space.com)

(Thursday September 26, 2024 @03:00AM (BeauHD) from the hide-and-seek dept.)


New research suggests that Mars' missing atmosphere [1]may have been absorbed by minerals in the planet's clays , in a process similar to geological reactions on Earth. It may explain Mars' loss of its atmosphere and potential to support life, with methane possibly still present and usable as an energy source. Longtime Slashdot reader [2]Baron_Yam writes:

> Conditions on early Mars were highly likely to have had CO2 carried down into the ground by water, where reactions with rock resulted in iron oxide (and Mars' rust-red surface) and released hydrogen, which in turn [3]reacted with the water to form methane that was bound in smectite clays . It's all still there, just under the surface.

The research has been [4]published in the journal Science Advances .



[1] https://www.space.com/mars-missing-atmosphere-hiding-plain-sight-clay-methane

[2] https://slashdot.org/~Baron_Yam

[3] https://www.space.com/mars-missing-atmosphere-hiding-plain-sight-clay-methane

[4] https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adm8443


But I thought it got blown away (Score:1)

by saloomy ( 2817221 )

Mars has a cold core so it has no Van Allen belts. Nothing shields it from the solar wind. That blew away the atmosphere, or so I was told.

Re: (Score:3)

by ls671 ( 1122017 )

> Mars has a cold core

Are you sure you about that?

[1]https://www.nasa.gov/missions/... [nasa.gov]

[2]https://www.sciencealert.com/i... [sciencealert.com]

[1] https://www.nasa.gov/missions/insight/nasa-insight-study-provides-clearest-look-ever-at-martian-core/

[2] https://www.sciencealert.com/in-an-incredible-first-scientists-have-discovered-whats-at-the-core-of-mars

Stupid claim in summary (Score:3)

by La Gris ( 531858 )

> with methane possibly still present and usable as an energy source

This is Mars, where do you get Oxygen to react Methane as an energy source?

And?

How much energy do you spend to extract and process the clay to extract this methane and all the process to extract an Oxydizer from a yet unknown source.

This is just to highlight this baseless stupid claim in the summary.

Re: (Score:2)

by bleedingobvious ( 6265230 )

> This is Mars, where do you get Oxygen to react Methane as an energy source?

Magic! Duh!

Also, please stop discouraging the Muskovites from volunteering to die in entertaining ways on that frozen, radioactive rock. I plan to make a mint on what promises to be the only worthwhile reality show, ever.

Re: (Score:2)

by TheNameOfNick ( 7286618 )

When you can let hydrogen react with water to form methane, anything is possible.

Re: (Score:2)

by ls671 ( 1122017 )

From humans, we aren't 100% efficient at breathing oxygen. /s

TFS vs TFA (Score:2)

by bradley13 ( 1118935 )

Ah, the great editors. TFS says:

> hydrogen, which in turn reacted with the water to form methane

Which makes no sense at all. TFA actually says:

> hydrogen could have combined with carbon dioxide in the water to create methane

Which is an interesting hypothesis. However, this process could only "rescue" hydrogen released from groundwater (due to formation of iron oxides). Hydrogen release from water in the atmosphere (split by solar radiation) will have been lost to space. Without going into painful details, it is highly likely the the atmospheric losses dominate.

Will Rogers never met you.