New discoveries on Mars repeatedly cause a stir in the world of science. This is now the case again. It concerns the enigmatic zone around the north polar vortex of our neighbor in the solar system.
Mars: Mystery at the North Polar Vortex
Researchers have succeeded in getting “a rare glimpse into the wintry conditions of Mars’s north polar vortex,” as a press release from Europlanet, an international, European initiative for the promotion of planetary research, states.
The zone around the north polar vortex has presented researchers with numerous puzzles for years. “Because winters at Mars’s north pole experience total darkness, like on Earth, they are very hard to study,” explained Dr. Kevin Olsen of the University of Oxford. This makes the new research findings all the more special.
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Icy Temperatures and Large Amounts of Ozone
They found that the temperatures inside the vortex are significantly lower than outside. “The atmosphere inside the polar vortex, from near the surface to about 30 kilometres high, is characterised by extreme cold temperatures, about 40 degrees Celsius colder than outside the vortex,” Olsen said. This is a drop of 72 degreees Farenheit.
Additionally, the permanent darkness that winter brings to Mars’s North Pole promotes an increase of ozone in the atmosphere. In such icy conditions, the little water vapor in the atmosphere freezes and is deposited on the ice cap. This has consequences for the ozone in the vortex. However, when all the water vapor disappears, there is nothing left for the ozone to react with. Instead, it accumulates in the vortex.
Important Findings for the Search for Past Life
These findings may provide important information about the past of the red planet. “By understanding how much ozone there is and how variable it is, we know more about how the atmosphere changed over time, and even whether Mars once had a protective ozone layer like on Earth,” explains Olsen.
The possibility that Mars once had an ozone layer that protected the planet’s surface from deadly ultraviolet radiation from space would significantly increase the likelihood that life could have existed on Mars billions of years ago. This could be crucial for future missions, like the 2028 mission by the European Space Agency. They’re going to send the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover on its journey to the red planet to search for signs of past life.
Source: Europlanet
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