Mars was considered too small for the development of life
Scientists from the University of Washington in St. Louis have named a new reason for the absence of life on Mars. According to the study, this planet is too small to hold large amounts of liquid water, according to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
It is known that in ancient times Mars was rich in water. This is indicated by both remote sensing data and analysis of Martian meteorites that fell to Earth. But now the planet's surface is completely dry.
The new study relied on stable isotopes of potassium (K). Potassium is a moderately volatile element, but scientists decided to use it as a kind of indicator for more volatile compounds such as water.
Scientists have estimated potassium levels in 20 Martian meteorites found on Earth. The results showed that Mars lost more potassium and other volatiles than Earth during its formation, but retained more volatiles than the Moon and asteroid Vesta.
The study indicated a clear correlation between the presence of volatile elements and the mass of a cosmic body. The authors of the scientific work stated that “the fate of Mars was a foregone conclusion from the very beginning.” They noted that there is some mass threshold for rocky planets to be able to hold on to liquid water. Such planets should be larger than Mars.
This data will be useful for analyzing planets outside the solar system. Scientists noted that when assessing the likelihood of life, one should take into account not only the position of the planet relative to the star, but also its size.
Earlier it became known that supervolcanoes erupted on Mars. These eruptions could globally change the climate of the Red Planet.
