Mars ice caps

Minimum atmospheric temperatures required to prevent CO(2) condensatio in the Mars polar caps are higher than those obtained in a computer experiment to simulate the general circulation of the Mars atmosphere. This observation supports the view that the polar caps are predominantly solid CO(2). However, thin clouds of H(2)0 ice could substantially reduce the surface condensation rate.     

Polar Volatiles on Mars--Theory versus Observation: Excess solid carbon dioxide is probably present in the north residual cap

The residual frost caps of Mars are probably water-ice. They may be the source of the water vapor associated with seasonal polar hoods. A permanent reservoir of solid CO(2) is also probably present within the north residual cap and may comprise a mass of CO(2) some two to five times that of the present atmosphere of Mars. The martian atmospheric pressure is probably regulated by the temperature of the reservoir and not by the annual heat balance of exposed solid CO(2) (37). The present reservoir temperature presumably reflects a long-term average of the polar heat balance. The question of a large permanent north polar cap is reexamined in light of the Mariner 9 data. The lower general elevation of the north polar region compared to the south and the resulting occurrence in the north of a permanent CO(2) deposit are probably responsible for the differences in size and shape of the two residual caps. The details of the processes involved are less apparent, however. It might be argued that the stability of water-ice deposits depends on both insolation and altitude. The present north and south residual caps should be symmetrically located with respect to such a hypothetical stability field. However, the offset of the south cap from the geometrical pole, the non-symmetrical outline of the north cap, and the apparently uniform thickness of the thin, widespread water-ice all argue against control by simple solid-vapor equilibrium of water under present environmental conditions. We think that the present location of the water-ice may reflect, in part, the past location of the permanent CO(2) reservoir. The extreme stability of polar water-ice deposits increases the likelihood that past environmental conditions may be recorded there. Detailed information on elevations in the vicinity of the residual caps is needed before we can further elucidate the nature and history of the residual caps. This, along with measurements of polar infrared emission, should be given high priority in future missions to Mars. Two conclusions follow from the limitation of the mass of solid CO(2) on Mars at present to two to five times the mass of CO(2) in the atmosphere. If all of this CO(2) was entirely sublimated into the atmosphere as a result of hypothetical astronomical or geophysical effects, the average surface pressure would increase to 15 to 30 mbar. Although such a change would have considerable significance for eolian erosion and transportation, there seems to be little possibility that a sufficiently earthlike atmosphere could result for liquid water to become an active erosional agent, as postulated by Milton (38). The pressure broadening required for a green-house effect requires at least 10 to 20 times more pressure (39). If liquid water was ever active in modifying the martian surface, it must have been at an earlier epoch, before the present, very stable CO(2)/H(2)O system developed. There can be no intermittent earthlike episodes now. Furthermore, the present abundance of CO(2) on Mars may be an indicator of the cumulative evolution of volatiles to the surface of the planet (40). Thus, even the possibility of an earlier earth-like episode is dimmed. On Mars, the total CO(2) definitely outgassed has evidently been about 60 +/- 20 g/cm(2). On the earth, about 70 +/- 30 kg/cm(2) of CO(2) have been released to the surface (41). Hence, the total CO(2) devolved by Mars per unit area is about 0.1 percent of that evolved by the earth. Thus, the observational limits we place on solid CO(2) presently located under the north residual cap also may constitute considerable constraints on the total differentiation and devolatilization of the planet. If they are valid, it would seem unlikely that Mars has devolatilized at all like the earth, or ever experienced an earthlike environment on its surface.     

Annual heat balance of martian polar caps: viking observations

The Infrared Thermal Mappers aboard the two Viking orbiters obtained solar reflectance and infrared emission measurements of the Martian north and south polar regions during an entire Mars year. The observations were used to determine annual radiation budgets, infer annual carbon dioxide frost budgets, and constrain spring season surface and atmospheric properties with the aid of a polar radiative model. The results provide further confirmation of the presence of permanent CO(2)frost deposits near the south pole and show that the stability of these deposits can be explained by their high reflectivities. In the north, the observed absence of solid CO(2) during summer was primarily the result of enhanced CO(2) sublimation rates due to lower frost reflectivities during spring. The results suggest that the present asymmetric behavior of CO(2)frost at the Martian poles is caused by preferential contamination of the north seasonal polar cap by atmospheric dust.     

The martian surface

With the scarcity of factual data and the difficulty of applying crucial tests, many of the properties of the Martian surface remain a mystery; the planet may become a source of great surprises in the future. In the following, the conclusions are enumerated more or less in the order of their reliability, the more certain ones first, conjectures or ambiguous interpretations coming last. Even if they prove to be wrong, they may serve as a stimulus for further investigation. Impact craters on Mars, from collisions with nearby asteroids and other stray bodies, were predicted 16 years ago (5-7) and are now verified by the Mariner IV pictures. The kink in the frequency curve of Martian crater diameters indicates that those larger than 20 kilometers could have survived aeolian erosion since the "beginning." They indicate an erosion rate 30 times slower than that in terrestrial deserts and 70 times faster than micrometeorite erosion on the moon. The observed number, per unit area, of Martian craters larger than 20 kilometers exceeds 4 times that calculated from the statistical theory of interplanetary collisions with the present population of stray bodies and for a time interval of 4500 million years, even when allowance is made for the depletion of the Martian group of asteroids, which were more numerous in the past. This, and the low eroded rims of the Martian craters suggest that many of the craters have survived almost since the formation of the crust. Therefore, Mars could not have possessed a dense atmosphere for any length of time. If there was abundant water for the first 100 million years or so, before it escaped it could have occurred only in the solid state as ice and snow, with but traces of vapor in the atmosphere, on account of the low temperature caused by the high reflectivity of clouds and snow. For Martian life there is thus the dilemma: with water, it is too cold; without, too dry. The crater density on Mars, though twice that in lunar maria, is much smaller than the "saturation density" of lunar highlands. Many primeval craters, those from the last impacts which formed the planet, must have become erased, either by late impacts of preferentially surviving large asteroids or by a primeval atmosphere which rapidly escaped. The tenuous Martian atmosphere may have originated entirely from outgassing of surface rocks by asteroidal impacts, which also could have produced some molten lava. The role of genuine volcanism on Mars must have been insignificant, if any. The large amplitude in temperature indicates that the Martian upper soil, equally in the bright and the dark areas, is of a porous unconsolidated structure, with a thermal conductivity as low as that of atmospheric air. Limb darkening at full phase in green, yellow, and red light indicates absorption by atmospheric haze, aerosols, and dust. The loss of contrast in the blue and violet is caused by stronger absorptivity of the haze, which is almost as dark as soot, and not by a true decrease in contrast of the surface markings. Photometric measurementsin the blue reveal a residual contrast of 5 to 7 percent between the markings in 1958, invisible to the eye at a time when there was no "blue clearing." The surface brightness of the maria was surprisingly uniform in 1958 (late summer in the southern hemisphere), while the continentes showed considerable variation. In view of the spotty microstructure of the Martian surface as revealed by Mariner IV, and the lack of a sharp border between a mare and a continens, it seems that all the difference consists in the relative number of small dark and bright areas in the surface mosaic. If there is vegetation on Mars, it should be concentrated in the darkarea elements, measuring 10 to 100 kilometers. Vegetation is the best hypothesis to account for seasonal changes in the maria and for the persistence of these formations despite dust storms of global extent. Survival of vegetation in the extreme dryness of the Martian climate could depend on the low night-time temperature and deposition of hoarfrost, which could melt into droplets after sunrise, before evaporating. If not vegetation, it must be something thing specifically Martian; no other hypothesis hitherto proposed is able to account for the facts. However, the infrared bands which at one time were thought to be associated with the presence of organic matter, belong to heavy water in the terrestrial atmosphere. The conversion of a former bright area into a dark one in 1954, over some 1 million square kilometers, is the largest recorded change of this kind. Even on the vegetation hypothesis, it eludes satisfactory explanation. Relatively bright areas observed in the blue and violet in polar regions and elsewhere on the limb can be explained by a greater transparency of the atmosphere,its dust content being decreased by a downward (anticyclonic) current. The surface, of a greater reflecting power than the atmospheric smoke, then becomes visible. The sudden explosion-like occurrence of yellow or gray clouds, reducing atmospheric transparency and surface contrast, could be due to impacts of asteroids; in such a case, however, the number of unobservable small asteroids, down to 30 to 40 meters in diameter, should greatly exceed the number extrapolated from the larger members of the group. A "meteoritic" increment in numbers, instead of the asteroidal one, would be required. special observations with large Schmidt telescopes could settle this crucial question. The Martian "oases," centers of "canal" systems, could be impact creters. The canals may be real formations, without sharp borders and 100 to 200 kilometers wide, due to a systematic alignment. of the dark surface elements. They may indicate cracks in the planet's crust, radiating from the point of impact.     

Mariner ultraviolet spectrometer: topography and polar cap

Mars, the red planet, reflects sunlight in the ultraviolet, but it is the atmosphere, not the surface, that is responsible for the reflected light. Even though there are atmospheric scatterers in addition to the molecular scatterers, it is possible to relate the intensity of the scattered radiation with the atmospheric pressure. The variation of pressure over the planet reveals the topography to vary over 7 kilometers in height and to be correlated with visible features. The carbon dioxide polar cap, in addition to being a cold trap for volatile gases in the atmosphere, may alsobe a very efficient adsorption trap for nonvolatiles. This last property may make the cap a repository for gases produced by geological or biological activity (15).     

Electrical breakdown caused by dust motion in low-pressure atmospheres: considerations for Mars

Electrification of agitated dust can cause visible breakdown in a carbon dioxide atmosphere at low pressure in a laboratory experiment. Dust storms on earth become electrified, with accompanying breakdown phenomena. Martian dust storms may reduce the atmospheric conductivity by capturing fast ions on particles, and, by electrifying, may cause discharges in the relatively low pressure atmosphere.     

Martian wave of darkening: a frost phenomenon?

A new hypothesis attributes the Martian "wave of darkening" to soil frost phenomena. Diurnal thawing and freezing of the ground, which uses moisture transported by the atmosphere from the melting polar cap, can produce various minute, frost-heaved, soil surface features. These microrelief features result in a complex porous surface structure, which causes optical darkening. The boundary at which the wave of darkening terminates on the winter hemisphere correlates with the latitude at which the diurnal peak surface temperature drops below 0 degrees C. The hypothesis is examined in terms of known properties of the Martian atmosphere and surface and the availability of water.     

Mars: upper atmosphere

The thermal structure of the upper atmosphere of Mars has been theoretically investigated. The exospheric temperature, for a pure CO(2) model atmosphere, lies between 400 degrees and 700 degrees K. The origin of the Martian atmosphere is discussed in the light of these results.     

Mariner 9 television reconnaissance of Mars and its satellites: preliminary results

At orbit insertion on 14 November 1971 the Martian surface was largely obscured by a dust haze with an extinction optical depth that ranged from near unity in the south polar region to probably greater than 2 over most of the planet. The only features clearly visible were the south polar cap, one dark, spot in Nix Olympica, and three dark spots in the Tharsis region. During the third week the atmosphere began to clear and surface visibility improved, but contrasts remained a fraction of their normal value. Each of the dark spots that apparently protrude through most of the dust-filled atmosphere has a crater or crater complex in its center. The craters are rimless and have featureless floors that, in the crater complexes, are at different levels. The largest crater within the southernmost spot is approximately 100 kilometers wide. The craters apparently were formed by subsidence and resemble terrestrial calderas. The south polar cap has a regular margin, suggsting very flat topography. Two craters outside the cap have frost on their floors; an apparent crater rim within the cap is frost free, indicating preferentia loss of frost from elevated ground. If this is so then the curvilinear streaks, which were frost covered in 1969 and are now clear of frost, may be low-relief ridges. Closeup pictures of Phobos and Deimos show that Phobos is about 25 +/-5 by 21 +/-1 kilometers and Deimos is about 13.5 +/- 2 by 12.0 +/-0.5 kilometers. Both have irregular shapes and are highly cratered, with some craters showing raised rims. The satellites are dark objects with geometric albedos of 0.05.     

Infrared thermal mapping of the martian surface and atmosphere: first results

The Viking infrared thermal mapper measures the thermal emission of the martian surface and atmosphere and the total reflected sunlight. With the high resolution and dense coverage being achieved, planetwide thermal structure is apparent at large and small scales. The thermal behavior of the best-observed areas, the landing sites, cannot be explained by simple homogeneous models. The data contain clear indications for the relevance of additional factors such as detailed surface texture and the occurrence of clouds. Areas in the polar night have temperatures distinctly lower than the CO(2) condensation point at the surface pressure. This observation implies that the annual atmospheric condensation is less than previously assumed and that either thick CO(2) clouds exist at the 20-kilometer level or that the polar atmosphere is locally enriched by noncondensable gases.     

Massive CO₂ ice deposits sequestered in the south polar layered deposits of Mars

Shallow Radar soundings from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal a buried deposit of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) ice within the south polar layered deposits of Mars with a volume of 9500 to 12,500 cubic kilometers, about 30 times that previously estimated for the south pole residual cap. The deposit occurs within a stratigraphic unit that is uniquely marked by collapse features and other evidence of interior CO(2) volatile release. If released into the atmosphere at times of high obliquity, the CO(2) reservoir would increase the atmospheric mass by up to 80%, leading to more frequent and intense dust storms and to more regions where liquid water could persist without boiling.     

Carbon dioxide supersaturation in the surface waters of lakes

Data on the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) in the surface waters from a large number of lakes (1835) with a worldwide distribution show that only a small proportion of the 4665 samples analyzed (less than 10 percent) were within +/-20 percent of equilibrium with the atmosphere and that most samples (87 percent) were supersaturated. The mean partial pressure of CO(2) averaged 1036 microatmospheres, about three times the value in the overlying atmosphere, indicating that lakes are sources rather than sinks of atmospheric CO(2). On a global scale, the potential efflux of CO(2) from lakes (about 0.14 x 10(15) grams of carbon per year) is about half as large as riverine transport of organic plus inorganic carbon to the ocean. Lakes are a small but potentially important conduit for carbon from terrestrial sources to the atmospheric sink.     

Observational contrains on the global atmospheric co2 budget

Observed atmospheric concentrations of CO(2) and data on the partial pressures of CO(2) in surface ocean waters are combined to identify globally significant sources and sinks of CO(2). The atmospheric data are compared with boundary layer concentrations calculated with the transport fields generated by a general circulation model (GCM) for specified source-sink distributions. In the model the observed north-south atmospheric concentration gradient can be maintained only if sinks for CO(2) are greater in the Northern than in the Southern Hemisphere. The observed differences between the partial pressure of CO(2) in the surface waters of the Northern Hemisphere and the atmosphere are too small for the oceans to be the major sink of fossil fuel CO(2). Therefore, a large amount of the CO(2) is apparently absorbed on the continents by terrestrial ecosystems.     

日光温室杏叶片净光合速率与相关因子灰色关联分析

对在日光温室条件下,测定的金太阳杏叶片净光合速率与其相关因子(大气CO2浓度、蒸腾速率、气温、叶温、光合有效辐射、相对湿度等)的数据,进行了灰色关联度分析,结果表明,在日光温室栽培条件下,影响金太阳杏叶片净光合速率的主导因子是光合有效辐射和蒸腾速率,其次是大气温度和相对湿度,大气CO2浓度影响相对较小.     

Trends in Stomatal Density and 13C/12C Ratios of Pinus flexilis Needles During Last Glacial-Interglacial Cycle

Measurements of stomatal density and delta(13)C of limber pine (Pinus flexilis) needles (leaves) preserved in pack rat middens from the Great Basin reveal shifts in plant physiology and leaf morphology during the last 30,000 years. Sites were selected so as to offset glacial to Holocene climatic differences and thus to isolate the effects of changing atmospheric CO(2) levels. Stomatal density decreased approximately 17 percent and delta(13)C decreased approximately 1.5 per mil during deglaciation from 15,000 to 12,000 years ago, concomitant with a 30 percent increase in atmospheric CO(2). Water-use efficiency increased approximately 15 percent during deglaciation, if temperature and humidity were held constant and the proxy values for CO(2) and delta(13)C of past atmospheres are accurate. The delta(13)C variations may help constrain hypotheses about the redistribution of carbon between the atmosphere and biosphere during the last glacial-interglacial cycle.     

北温带干旱地区土壤-大气界面CO2通量的变化特征

采用箱法对栗钙土、灰钙土、粗骨土和山地灰褐土4种有代表性的干旱土壤表面CO2通量进行观测和研究。结果表明:森林土壤（粗骨土和山地灰褐土）的通量显著大于草原土壤（栗钙土和灰钙土）。干旱区土壤表面CO2通量的平均值为230.05 μmol/(m2·h),变化范围为-147.27～2 319.55 μmol/(m2·h)。不同土壤类型之间存在差异,粗骨土(351.82 μmol/(m2·h))山地灰褐土(347.33 μmol/(m2·h))栗钙土(193.36 μmol/(m2·h))灰钙土(162.37 μmol/(m2·h))。土壤表面CO2通量存在季节变化,趋势呈“S”形。9月份最高(516.79 μmol/(m2·h)),以土壤向大气释放为主;1月份最低(－7.09 μmol/(m2·h)),以大气进入土壤为主;具有春夏秋冬交替规律,与气候变化趋势基本一致,土壤表面CO2通量稍有后滞。全天候土壤表面CO2通量呈“山峰”形变化,04:00最小(154.13 μmol/(m2·h)),12:00最大(349.65 μmol/(m2·h)),具有昼夜交替规律,比气候日变化稍有滞后。影响土壤表面CO2通量的环境因子有地表空气温度、土壤温度（0～10 cm、10～20 cm和20～30 cm）、土壤含水量（0～10 cm、10～20 cm和20～30 cm）;其中,地表空气温度、土壤温度（0～10 cm、10～20 cm和20～30 cm）和土壤含水量（0～10 cm）分别与土壤表面CO2通量呈正相关关系,而10～20 cm和20～30 cm深度的土壤含水量与土壤表面CO2通量呈负相关关系,地表空气相对湿度与土壤表面CO2通量的关系不显著。大气与土壤之间的CO2存在双向转移机制,CO2不仅从土壤向大气转移,而且也从大气向土壤转移,热量在地球表面的差异性分布,导致温带和寒带地区的土壤具有平衡大气CO2浓度的功能,是温带、寒带地区的显著特征。      

Mariner 9 ultraviolet spectrometer experiment: initial results

The ultraviolet airglow spectrum of Mars has been measured from an orbiting spacecraft during a 30-day period in November-December 1971. The emission rates of the carbon monoxide Cameron and fourth positive bands, the atomic oxygen 1304-angstrom line and the atomic hydrogen 1216-angstrom line have been measured as a function of altitude. Significant variations in the scale height of the CO Cameron band airglow have been observed during a period of variable solar activity; however, the atomic oxygen and hydrogen airglow lines are present during all the observations. Measurements of the reflectance of the lower atmosphere of Mars show the spectral characteristics of particle scattering and a magnitude that is about 50 percent of that measured during the Mariner 6 and 7 experiments in 1969. The variation of reflectance across the planet may be represented by a model in which the dominant scatterer is dust that absorbs in the ultraviolet and has an optical depth greater than 1. The atmosphere above the polar region is clearer than over the rest of the planet.     

土壤呼吸强度的影响因素及其研究进展

探讨了土壤呼吸的研究情况和各因素对土壤呼吸的影响,提出了土壤呼吸研究尚需解决的问题和研究方向,并进行了展望.     

典型气候/环境因子变化对九段沙湿地碳固定潜力的影响

利用人工气候室模拟长江口区域几种典型气候/环境因子的变化特征（全球变暖、CO2增加和海水无机氮污染加剧等）,并从植物生长量和土壤呼吸角度综合分析了这些气候/环境因素的变化对九段沙湿地土壤有机碳汇聚能力的影响。初步结果表明,在实验范围内,与对照相比,单方面的温度升高、无机氮污染加剧和CO2浓度升高会提高九段沙土壤的有机碳汇聚能力。无机氮污染加剧协同升温对土壤呼吸有一定的消减作用,从而提高了土壤有机碳汇聚能力;无机氮污染加剧协同CO2浓度升高会促使土壤有机碳的排放,使其碳汇聚能力下降;CO2浓度升高和全球升温的共同作用不会显著降低有机碳汇聚能力;无机氮污染加剧和CO2浓度升高的基础上加入升温的三因素交互作用会促进土壤有机碳的排放,使其碳汇聚能力下降。因此,要尽力避免海水中无机氮污染加剧和CO2浓度升高两个因素,以及在此基础上升温情况的同时发生。     

Arctic lakes and streams as gas conduits to the atmosphere: implications for tundra carbon budgets

Arctic tundra has large amounts of stored carbon and is thought to be a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO(2)) (0.1 to 0.3 petagram of carbon per year) (1 petagram = 10(15) grams). But this estimate of carbon balance is only for terrestrial ecosystems. Measurements of the partial pressure of CO(2) in 29 aquatic ecosystems across arctic Alaska showed that in most cases (27 of 29) CO(2) was released to the atmosphere. This CO(2) probably originates in terrestrial environments; erosion of particulate carbon plus ground-water transport of dissolved carbon from tundra contribute to the CO(2) flux from surface waters to the atmosphere. If this mechanism is typical of that of other tundra areas, then current estimates of the arctic terrestrial sink for atmospheric CO(2) may be 20 percent too high.