Possible physical and thermodynamical evidence for liquid water at the Phoenix landing site

  1. Nilton O. Rennó1,2,
  2. Brent J. Bos3,
  3. David Catling4,
  4. Benton C. Clark5,
  5. Line Drube6,
  6. David Fisher7,
  7. Walter Goetz8,
  8. Stubbe F. Hviid6,
  9. Horst Uwe Keller8,
  10. Jasper F. Kok1,2,
  11. Samuel P. Kounaves9,
  12. Kristoffer Leer6,
  13. Mark Lemmon10,
  14. Morten Bo Madsen6,
  15. Wojciech J. Markiewicz8,
  16. John Marshall11,
  17. Christopher McKay12,
  18. Manish Mehta1,
  19. Miles Smith13,
  20. M. P. Zorzano14,
  21. Peter H. Smith15,
  22. Carol Stoker12,
  23. Suzanne M. M. Young16

Article first published online: 14 OCT 2009

DOI: 10.1029/2009JE003362

Issue

Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets (1991–2012)

Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets (1991–2012)

Additional Information

How to Cite

Rennó, N. O., et al. (2009), Possible physical and thermodynamical evidence for liquid water at the Phoenix landing site, J. Geophys. Res., 114, E00E03, doi:10.1029/2009JE003362.

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

  2. 2

    Applied Physics Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

  3. 3

    NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA

  4. 4

    Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

  5. 5

    Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado, USA

  6. 6

    Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

  7. 7

    Geological Survey of Canada, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

  8. 8

    Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany

  9. 9

    Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA

  10. 10

    Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA

  11. 11

    Carl Sagan Center, SETI Institute, Mountain View, California, USA

  12. 12

    NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California, USA

  13. 13

    Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA

  14. 14

    Centro de Astrobiología, Madrid, Spain

  15. 15

    Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

  16. 16

    Department of Chemistry, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 14 OCT 2009
  2. Article first published online: 14 OCT 2009
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 7 JUL 2009
  4. Manuscript Revised: 24 JUN 2009
  5. Manuscript Received: 7 FEB 2009

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Keywords:

  • Mars;
  • liquid water;
  • brines

[1] The objective of the Phoenix mission is to determine if Mars' polar region can support life. Since liquid water is a basic ingredient for life, as we know it, an important goal of the mission is to determine if liquid water exists at the landing site. It is believed that a layer of Martian soil preserves ice by forming a barrier against high temperatures and sublimation, but that exposed ice sublimates without the formation of the liquid phase. Here we show possible independent physical and thermodynamical evidence that besides ice, liquid saline water exists in areas disturbed by the Phoenix Lander. Moreover, we show that the thermodynamics of freeze-thaw cycles can lead to the formation of saline solutions with freezing temperatures lower than current summer ground temperatures on the Phoenix landing site on Mars' Arctic. Thus, we hypothesize that liquid saline water might occur where ground ice exists near the Martian surface. The ideas and results presented in this article provide significant new insights into the behavior of water on Mars.

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