On ancient Mars, carbon dioxide ice kept the water running. Here's how

image via Space.com

November 8, 2024, 4:00 PM

• •A new model suggests that carbon dioxide ice played a key role in keeping Mars' rivers flowing after the planet began to cool.
• •The model shows that a layer of carbon dioxide ice 650 meters thick would settle onto Mars' south polar cap each winter.
• •This carbon dioxide acted as an insulator, preventing heat leaking out of the planet's interior from escaping at the south pole. It also added weight and pressure onto the ice cap, which led to temperatures and pressures at the base of the ice cap that allowed the ice there to melt and form a pool of water.

A lone researcher may have figured out how Mars was able to support rivers and seas even after the planet had begun to grow cold and its atmosphere thin, and it's all thanks to a cycle of water and carbon dioxide.

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