Liquid CO2 Chemistry on Early Mars

Please join the Earth and Planets Laboratory on Monday morning at 11:00 a.m. for a general seminar by Dr. Michael Hecht of MIT. This seminar will be held in the Broad Branch Road Campus’ Greenewalt Lecture Hall and by Zoom.

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Abstract:

Physical evidence of past liquid flow on Mars, ranging from vast valley networks to tiny gullies, point unambiguously to a wet past. While liquid CO2 (LCO2) has been suggested as the source of some of this morphology, it is the evidence of aqueous alteration, notably including sulfates, phyllosilicates, and carbonates, that is taken as proof that the liquid in question was actually water (LH2O) — despite the difficulty of conjuring up a climate scenario warm enough to explain how liquid water might have persisted on early Mars.