Publication Date:
2009-07-04
Description:
The Phoenix mission investigated patterned ground and weather in the northern arctic region of Mars for 5 months starting 25 May 2008 (solar longitude between 76.5 degrees and 148 degrees ). A shallow ice table was uncovered by the robotic arm in the center and edge of a nearby polygon at depths of 5 to 18 centimeters. In late summer, snowfall and frost blanketed the surface at night; H(2)O ice and vapor constantly interacted with the soil. The soil was alkaline (pH = 7.7) and contained CaCO(3), aqueous minerals, and salts up to several weight percent in the indurated surface soil. Their formation likely required the presence of water.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Smith, P H -- Tamppari, L K -- Arvidson, R E -- Bass, D -- Blaney, D -- Boynton, W V -- Carswell, A -- Catling, D C -- Clark, B C -- Duck, T -- Dejong, E -- Fisher, D -- Goetz, W -- Gunnlaugsson, H P -- Hecht, M H -- Hipkin, V -- Hoffman, J -- Hviid, S F -- Keller, H U -- Kounaves, S P -- Lange, C F -- Lemmon, M T -- Madsen, M B -- Markiewicz, W J -- Marshall, J -- McKay, C P -- Mellon, M T -- Ming, D W -- Morris, R V -- Pike, W T -- Renno, N -- Staufer, U -- Stoker, C -- Taylor, P -- Whiteway, J A -- Zent, A P -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2009 Jul 3;325(5936):58-61. doi: 10.1126/science.1172339.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. psmith@lpl.arizona.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19574383" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Calcium Carbonate
;
Extraterrestrial Environment
;
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
;
*Ice
;
*Mars
;
Robotics
;
Spacecraft
;
Temperature
;
*Water
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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