Circumpolar Ocean Stability On Mars 3 Gy Ago
F. Schmidt, F. Costard, S. Bouley, A. Sejourné,, Université Paris-Saclay, Cnrs, Geops, 91405, Orsay,
France, Institut Universitaire De France (Iuf) M. Way, I. Aleinov Nasa/Goddard Institute For Space Studies,
2880 Broadway, Ny, Ny 10025, Usa Gsfc Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration, Greenbelt, Md,
Usa, Theoreticalastrophysics, Department Of Physics And Astronomy, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Center For Climate Systems Research, Columbia University, New York, Ny 10025, Usa
Summary: Was The Nature Of The Late Hesperian Climate “Warm And Wet” Or “Cold And Dry?”
Constructed In This Manner The Question Leads To A
Paradox Since Both Options Seem Implausible [1]. A
“Warm And Wet” Climate Would Have Generated
Extensive Fluvial Erosion But Not Many Valley Networks Have Been Observed In Late Hesperian Epoch.
A Cold Climate Would Keep A Northern Ocean Frozen
Most Of The Time. A Moderate Cold Climate Would
Have Transferred The Water From The Ocean To The
Land In The Form Of Snow And Ice, Especially To The
Tharsis Region And Southern Highlands. But This
Would In Turn Prevent Tsunami Formation, As Some
Evidence Suggests. We Provide A Novel View From
Numerical Climate Simulations In Agreement With
Surface Observations To Show That The Martian Climate Could Have Been Both Cold And Wet. We Use An