[meteorite-list] Radar Map of Buried Martian Ice Adds to Climate Record (MRO)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2010 14:41:27 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201003022241.o22MfRtR011570_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-072

Radar Map of Buried Martian Ice Adds to Climate Record
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
March 02, 2010

PASADENA, Calif. -- Extensive radar mapping of the middle-latitude
region of northern Mars shows that thick masses of buried ice are quite
common beneath protective coverings of rubble.

The ability of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to continue charting
the locations of these hidden glaciers and ice-filled valleys -- first
confirmed by radar two years ago -- adds clues about how these deposits
may have been left as remnants when regional ice sheets retreated.

The subsurface ice deposits extend for hundreds of kilometers, or miles,
in the rugged region called Deuteronilus Mensae, about halfway from the
equator to the Martian north pole. Jeffrey Plaut of NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and colleagues prepared a map
of the region's confirmed ice for presentation at this week's 41st Lunar
and Planetary Science Conference near Houston.

The Shallow Radar instrument on the orbiter has obtained more than 250
observations of the study area, which is about the size of California.

"We have mapped the whole area with a high density of coverage," Plaut
said. "These are not isolated features. In this area, the radar is
detecting thick subsurface ice in many locations." The common locations
are around the bases of mesas and scarps, and confined within valleys or
craters.

Plaut said, "The hypothesis is the whole area was covered with an ice
sheet during a different climate period, and when the climate dried out,
these deposits remained only where they had been covered by a layer of
debris protecting the ice from the atmosphere."

The researchers plan to continue the mapping. These buried masses of ice
are a significant fraction of the known non-polar ice on Mars. The ice
could contain a record of environmental conditions at the time of its
deposition and flow, making the ice masses an intriguing possible target
for a future mission with digging capability.

The Shallow Radar instrument was provided by the Italian Space Agency,
and its operations are led by the InfoCom Department, University of Rome
"La Sapienza." Thales Alenia Space Italia, in Rome, is the Italian Space
Agency's prime contractor for the radar instrument. Astro Aerospace of
Carpinteria, Calif., a business unit of Los Angeles-based Northrop
Grumman Corp., developed the instrument's antenna as a subcontractor to
Thales Alenia Space Italia.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission is managed by JPL for NASA's
Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems
in Denver was the prime contractor for the orbiter and supports its
operations. The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages
JPL for NASA.

Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster at jpl.nasa.gov

2010-072
Received on Tue 02 Mar 2010 05:41:27 PM PST