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Originally published in Science Express on 30 May 2002
Science 5 July 2002:
Vol. 297. no. 5578, pp. 81 - 85
DOI: 10.1126/science.1073722
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Reports

Distribution of Hydrogen in the Near Surface of Mars: Evidence for Subsurface Ice Deposits

W. V. Boynton,1* W. C. Feldman,2 S. W. Squyres,3 T. H. Prettyman,2 J. Brückner,4 L. G. Evans,5 R. C. Reedy,26 R. Starr,7 J. R. Arnold,8 D. M. Drake,9 P. A. J. Englert,10 A. E. Metzger,11 Igor Mitrofanov,12 J. I. Trombka,13 C. d'Uston,14 H. Wänke,4 O. Gasnault,14 D. K. Hamara,1 D. M. Janes,1 R. L. Marcialis,1 S. Maurice,15 I. Mikheeva,1 G. J. Taylor,16 R. Tokar,2 C. Shinohara1

Using the Gamma-Ray Spectrometer on the Mars Odyssey, we have identified two regions near the poles that are enriched in hydrogen. The data indicate the presence of a subsurface layer enriched in hydrogen overlain by a hydrogen-poor layer. The thickness of the upper layer decreases with decreasing distance to the pole, ranging from a column density of about 150 grams per square centimeter at -42° latitude to about 40 grams per square centimeter at -77°. The hydrogen-rich regions correlate with regions of predicted ice stability. We suggest that the host of the hydrogen in the subsurface layer is ice, which constitutes 35 ± 15% of the layer by weight.

1 Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
2 Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.
3 Center for Radiophysics & Space Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
4 Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, 55020 Mainz, Federal Republic of Germany.
5 Science Programs, Computer Sciences Corporation, Lanham, MD 20706, USA.
6 Institute of Meteoritics, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
7 Department of Physics, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064, USA.
8 Department of Chemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
9 TechSource, Sante Fe, NM 87505, USA.
10 Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
11 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
12 Space Research Institute, Moscow, Russia.
13 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
14 Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Toulouse, France.
15 Observatoire Midi-Pyrenees, 31400 Toulouse, France.
16 University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: wboynton{at}lpl.arizona.edu

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