Mars Atmosphere Lost 3 Billion Years Ago: All 'Turned Into' Rocks?

The mystery of Mars' atmospheric loss has left scientists perplexed: what processes led to such severe consequences? Investigating this issue can aid in the protection of Earth's atmosphere.

Scientists believe that Mars is a planet very similar to Earth, especially billions of years ago when it likely had an environment with liquid water. The latest research indicates that Mars had abundant carbon 3 to 4 billion years ago, and its surface temperature could support the existence of liquid water. Therefore, life might have existed on Mars during that time. Today, Mars' atmosphere is extremely thin, containing approximately 95% carbon dioxide. Tim Tomkinson, a scientist from the University of Glasgow's Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, while studying Martian meteorites, suggested that an ancient global extreme event occurred on Mars, causing a dramatic decrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide, leading to Mars losing most of its atmosphere and beginning to cool down.

Information recorded in Martian meteorites hints at the disappearance of Mars' thick carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere 3 billion years ago. Scientists have proposed two possible explanations for this phenomenon. The first view suggests that strong solar winds caused the loss of Mars' atmosphere, with some possibly being frozen by dry ice caps, though this theory does not require the consumption of large amounts of carbon. Another possibility is that the carbon dioxide in Mars' atmosphere entered the lithosphere, a process also observed on Earth. Tomkinson and his colleagues discovered traces of carbonate minerals while investigating Martian meteorites, indicating that Mars experienced a process where carbon dioxide dissolved in a liquid medium and entered the lithosphere, essentially locking carbon dioxide in rocks and soil.

In 2008, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter detected traces of carbonates, similar to those already found in meteorites. However, it remains unclear how much of Mars' carbon dioxide atmosphere has "turned into" stone, or whether this process could completely "remove" Mars' thick atmosphere. For this reason, scientists believe it is necessary to send new Mars probes to investigate Mars. NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission will launch soon to explore Mars' atmosphere and climate, revealing the process of atmospheric escape or entry into the lithosphere.

Some studies suggest that if we could release the carbon dioxide trapped in Mars' rocks and soil, we could increase the thickness of Mars' atmosphere, potentially even restoring it to its appearance 3 billion years ago. Mars' current desolate state is linked to the mysterious disappearance of its atmosphere.