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Science 15 February 1974:
Vol. 183. no. 4125, pp. 654 - 656
DOI: 10.1126/science.183.4125.654
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Articles

Carbon Dioxide Hydrate and Floods on Mars

Daniel J. Milton 1

1 U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025

Ground ice on Mars probably consists largely of carbon dioxide hydrate, CO2 · 6H2O. This hydrate dissociates upon release of pressure at temperatures between 0° and 10°C. The heat capacity of the ground would be sufficient to produce up to 4 percent (by volume) of water at a rate equal to that at which it can be drained away. Catastrophic dissociation of carbon dioxide hydrate during some past epoch when the near surface temperature was in this range would have produced chaotic terrain and flood channels.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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