Seasonal buffering of atmospheric pressure on Mars |
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Authors: | Daniel Dzurisin Andrew P Ingersoll |
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Institution: | Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA |
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Abstract: | An isothermal reservoir of carbon dioxide in gaseous contact with the Martian atmosphere would reduce the amplitude and advance the phase of global atmospheric pressure fluctuations caused by seasonal growth and decline of polar CO2 frost caps. Adsorbed carbon dioxide in the upper ~10 m of Martian regolith is sufficient to buffer the present atmosphere on a seasonal basis. Available observations and related polar cap models do not confirm or refute the operation of such a mechanism. Implications for the amplitude and phase of seasonal pressure fluctuations are subject to direct test by the upcoming Viking mission to Mars. |
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