Scientists of the Institute of Space Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported on the possible detection of a giant cluster on Mars of water ice at the bottom of the Mariner Valleys. This is reported in a press release on the website of the Institute.
Researchers analyzed the data obtained by the Frend neutron telescope on board the Trace Gas Orbiter apparatus of the Russian-European Mission “Ekzomars”. Frend is designed for mapping neutron flow sources from the surface of Mars with a high spatial resolution. Such sources are the accumulations of hydrogen atoms (for example, in the composition of water molecules) in the surface layer of the red planet to one meter depth. Neutron streams occur with the bombardment of water ice with cosmic rays.
Scientists have found that in the Candor Canyon area in the mariner valleys there is an area with signs of a large accumulation of hydrogen. In terms of water, this should correspond to a mass fraction in a substance of about 40 percent. Such a quantity can be associated with the presence of a huge glacier from water ice. In this case, its area reaches 41 thousand square kilometers. However, future Martian expeditions will help confirm its existence.
It is known that hydrogen is most common in the polar regions of permafrost compared to the equatorial strip, where the surface ice is quickly sublimated. Water here contains, as a rule, in the composition of hydrated minerals or in the form of a monomolecular layer on the surface of the regolic. However, the low resolution of the available cards has not yet allowed to identify individual areas enriched with hydrogen due to relief features.