Ice Slabs Found on Mars

Gigi Chrappa                                                                                                  10/2/15           

Earth Science C-Odd                                                                           Current events

Choi, Charles Q. "Gigantic Ice Slab Found on Mars Just Below the Planet's Surface."        Space.com. N.p., 10 Sept. 2015. Web. 02 Oct. 2015.

The article, “Gigantic Ice Slab Found on Mars Just Below the Planet’s Surface” written by Charles Choi tells the reader about a new discovery. Recently, scientists have found evidence of a large ice slab below the surface of Mars! This ice slab is believed to be about 432,275 square miles, which is equivalent to the size of Texas and California combined! The slab is located between Mars’ north pole and the equator. There are many theories about how it formed and how it stayed in tact but, there is no definite answer. One idea suggests that the ice formed from snow falling millions of years ago. Another theory insinuates that there may have been large bodies of water all over the planet. If this is the case, this could also directly correspond to the possibility of life forms evolving on Mars. This also might mean that there could be signs of life on Mars today!

Throughout the article, many theories are mentioned about how the ice could have formed and how it could held together for over millions of years. One hypothesis states that Mars does not have a moon, which makes the planet a little unsteady. This means that the planet’s axis points also are unsteady and are constantly changing. This could lead to multiple ice ages. Then the article informs the readers about our past discoveries. Apparently slabs of ice have already been located on Mars. However, these slabs have only been located in areas with high latitudes. Now, scientists have discovered ice slabs are also located in areas of low and medium latitudes usually located around the Martian equator.

 Strange craters are located in an area called Arcadia Planitia, a region with medium latitude. Scientists have began research in this area to look at ice below the surface. The craters are extremely large ranging from 320 meters to 430 meters. And, another unusual thing about these craters is that terraces formed on the crater’s walls as opposed to the traditional bowl-shaped craters. Terraces form when there are other substances located beneath the planet’s surface. The article states, “However, all 187 craters the researchers studied have terraces, ‘which indicates something weird is going on in the subsurface.’” This direct quote from the article helps to show that there is clearly some underlying issue but also helped to answer my previous question which was, why do the terraces hold importance towards the discovery of ice slabs on Mars. Data from a High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera helps researchers to look at these craters and examine their terraces. Also, radar pulses were beamed at Mars by using another tool called the Shallow Radar, which helped researchers determine what certain layers of the terraces were composed of. Lastly, researchers have decided to observe the ice carefully to discover more about it!

Finding ice on Mars could directly relate to changes on Earth itself! These changes may not occur immediately or at a rapid pace but over time, they may occur. Since ice was found on Mars, that could mean water can also be found on Mars. Then the planet could possibly support life! If this were the case, maybe in the distant future, after tons of research has been preformed, people could start a civilization on Mars! Or, maybe we could send teams of astronauts to Mars and collect some of the planet’s natural resources to bring back to Earth and use on our planet. If the crater’s terraces indicate there are resources below the surface, maybe we could tap into their resources to bring back to Earth. Or maybe we could use these resources to make assumptions about other planets! If, from these samples, we discover other planets can sustain life, we can continue expanding our population to other, more distant, planets.

The article was overall very well written and included a lot of factual evidence or detail. The author would state a theory about the ice slabs’ creation and then back it up with evidence which helped to convince the readers that these theories are plausible. Then, the article creates opportunities for the reader to create questions. This makes the person continue reading until their questions are answered later on. However, I feel that the evidence should have been a little more specific. For the most part the evidence was very vague and mostly speculation, which was a little disappointing, but also this made it hard for the reader to fully understand the scientist’s hypothesis. In the end, the article was a great read and I learned a lot about these newly found ice slabs!