1. Water heavily fractionated as it ascends on Mars as revealed by ExoMars/NOMAD.
- Author
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Villanueva GL, Liuzzi G, Crismani MMJ, Aoki S, Vandaele AC, Daerden F, Smith MD, Mumma MJ, Knutsen EW, Neary L, Viscardy S, Thomas IR, Lopez-Valverde MA, Ristic B, Patel MR, Holmes JA, Bellucci G, and Lopez-Moreno JJ
- Abstract
Isotopic ratios and, in particular, the water D/H ratio are powerful tracers of the evolution and transport of water on Mars. From measurements performed with ExoMars/NOMAD, we observe marked and rapid variability of the D/H along altitude on Mars and across the whole planet. The observations (from April 2018 to April 2019) sample a broad range of events on Mars, including a global dust storm, the evolution of water released from the southern polar cap during southern summer, the equinox phases, and a short but intense regional dust storm. In three instances, we observe water at very high altitudes (>80 km), the prime region where water is photodissociated and starts its escape to space. Rayleigh distillation appears the be the driving force affecting the D/H in many cases, yet in some instances, the exchange of water reservoirs with distinctive D/H could be responsible., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).)
- Published
- 2021
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