Bruce Jakosky Finds 150‑m Mars Ocean Gap
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- Bruce Jakosky presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference on 20 March that that accounting for all known water sources and sinks on Mars leaves a short between the estimated Noachian ocean (150‑250 m deep) and the current water inventory (≈30 m deep).
- Mars is widely accepted to have hosted liquid water during the Noachian Period (≈4.5–3.7 Ga), enough to cover the planet in a global ocean 150‑250 m deep.
- Water‑removal processes such as atmospheric escape, sequestration in ice, and mineral binding together account for only a few tens of metres of water loss, insufficient to bridge the gap.
- Eric Hiatt argued that Mars’ hydrologic cycle may differ fundamentally from Earth’s, with groundwater possibly not interacting with the surface and atmosphere as previously thought.
- Bethany Ehlmann suggested that more water may still reside on Mars than current estimates indicate, implying undiscovered ice or mineral reservoirs.
- Jakosky emphasized that resolving the water‑budget mystery will require in‑situ measurements from rovers and orbiters rather than additional modeling, noting that human missions may be decades away.
Why it matters: The water‑budget gap forces scientists to revise Mars’ habitability models, directly influencing where future rovers and potential human missions will search for water and life, and reshaping NASA and SpaceX exploration strategies by highlighting the need for in‑situ water detection.
Ask SkimNews
