Mars pole has vast reserves of frozen water: Study

Mars holds huge reserves of frozen water in its southern pole, according to the first detailed assessment of the data sent back by Europe’s Mars Express spacecraft earlier this year. Astrophysicists poured over information sent back by the orbiter’s imaging spectrometer, which is able to detect elements in a planet’s surface or atmosphere thanks to the spectrum of light that is reflected from the sun.

Reporting in tomorrow’s issue of Nature, the French-led team say they have spotted frozen water in three forms in the martian South Pole.

The first is water ice mixed with ‘‘large concentrations’’ of frozen carbon dioxide (CO2) on a large bright spot on the perennial polar cap —— the cap that is there all year round.

Beyond the boundary of the cap, the area advances and retreats with summer and winter. Exactly how much of the ice is water rather than CO2 is unclear. A good estimate would be about 15 percent, the scientists say. The second form is in icy deposits that encrust rugged scarps around the polar cap, and which appear to be free of CO2. —(PTI)