Planetary researchers on Monday, June 10 announced a major discovery of patches of water frost on Mars.
According to ABC News, as per the researchers, the patches of water frost are equivalent to ’60 Olympic-size swimming pools.’
A study published in the journal Nature Geoscience revealed the discovery of a thin, widespread layer of water frost on top of three Tharsis volcanoes, Olympus, Arsia Ascraeus Mons, and Ceraunius Tholus, located on a plateau at the equator of Mars.
The frost is approximately ‘one hundredth of a millimeter thick, or about the width of a human hair.
According to the study, frost forms during the sunrise and then evaporates during daylight hours.
Researchers from Brown University said in a press release on Monday, June 10, “The researchers calculate the frost constitutes at least 150,000 tons of water that swaps between the surface and atmosphere each day during the cold seasons. That's the equivalent of roughly 60 Olympic-size swimming pools."
Adomas Valantinas, the lead researcher of the study, said, “We thought it was improbable for frost to form around Mars' equator, as the mix of sunshine and thin atmosphere keeps temperatures during the day relatively high at both the surface and mountaintop, unlike what we see on Earth, where you might expect to see frosty peaks.”
Valantinas further added, “What we're seeing may be a remnant of an ancient climate cycle on modern Mars, where you had precipitation and maybe even snowfall on these volcanoes in the past.”
