Ice Deposits on Mars: Windows into Extraterrestrial Ice Ages

The nature of water ice on Mars has important implications for understanding the Martian climate system, which undergoes climate cycles analogous to Earth’s Milankovitch cycles. The distribution and properties of ice on Mars therefore provides us a window into these extraterrestrial “Ice Ages.” I will present the results of spacecraft remote sensing studies to constrain the locations and properties of Mars’ ice â€" from subsurface ice deposits and remnant glaciers in the mid-latitudes to the prominent ice caps at the poles. I will also discuss how these remote sensing datasets can be combined with theoretical models of ice stability to understand the formation, evolution, and continued preservation of ice to the present day. These studies will be placed in the context of understanding the planet’s geological and climatological history, as well as the interest in Mars’ ice as a potential in-situ resource for enabling future human exploration.

Speaker: Ali Bramson, Purdue University

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Room B67