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The Mars carbonate catastrophe was an event that happened on Mars in its early history. Evidence shows Mars was once warmer and wet about 4 billion years ago, that is about 560 million years after the formation of Mars. Mars quickly, over a 1 to 12 million year time span, lost its water, becoming cold and very dry. Factors in Mars losing its water and most of its atmosphere are: the carbonate catastrophe, loss of the planet's magnetic field and Mars' low gravity. Mars' low gravity and loss of a magnetic field allowed the Sun's solar wind to strip away most of Mars' atmosphere and water into outer space.

Carbonate catastrophe

Water, H₂O, is very abundant in the universe, so when Mars formed during the formation of the solar system it had water. The water on early Mars reacted with atmospheric carbon dioxide. This reaction formed carbonic acid which became part of the water cycle on Mars. The carbonic acid rain produced carbonates on the planet. The carbonates removed (leached) greenhouse gases, water vapor, and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Carbonates still exist on Mars. Early greenhouse gases came from Mars' early magma, planetesimals and comets. The carbonate catastrophe ended the Noachian time span. Mars' interior cooled, so it did not develop plate tectonics and a carbon cycle as Earth did. Thus, Earth did not develop a carbonate catastrophe. Mars' interior cooling also ended volcano activity on Mars.

Magnetic field of Mars

There is evidence that early Mars had a magnetic field, like the magnetic field of Earth. The Magnetic field of Mars ended quickly after the formation of the planet as the core of Mars is made of much lighter elements and is much smaller than Earth's core. Without a magnetic field the Sun's solar wind, made of charged particles, including plasma, electrons, protons and alpha particles stripped away most of the atmosphere and water on Mars.

Gravity of Mars

Mars' gravity is 62.5% less than Earth, that is 100 kg has a weight of about 980 Newtons on Earth would be about 367.5 Newtons on Mars. The low gravity is due to Mars' small size and also its lower density. Mars' mass is only 11% of Earth's mass. Mars' diameter is 4,213 miles (6,780 kilometres) and the diameter of Earth is 7,926 miles (12,756 kilometres).

Mars today

Mars today is very different than its early history, pre-carbonate catastrophe. Mars today:

• Mars' atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 1.6% argon. Earth's atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon, 0.03% carbon dioxide.
• Mars has only about 0.7% of the atmospheric pressure of Earth. Mars' atmosphere is about 6.5 millibar, Earth's atmosphere is 1013 millibar. Surface of Mars is like Earth at 100,000 feet (30 kilometres) in the stratosphere.
• Mars' atmosphere's humidity is 0.03%, Earth's average humidity is about 50% (lowest 0.36%, high 100%).
• Intense ultraviolet solar radiation, due to thin atmosphere.
• Intense solar radiation and cosmic rays due to lack of magnetic field.
• Alkaline pH soil at 8.3, due to chlorine in the soil. Earth's average soil pH is about 6.5.
• Virtually no oxygen at 0.13%. Earth at about 21% oxygen.
• Mars is covered in dry iron oxide dust, has seasonal global dust storms, with a duration of about a month.
• Mars' average global temperature is −81 °F (−63 °C; 210 K), Earth's average global temperature is 57 °F (14 °C; 287 K).
• The seasonal Martian polar ice caps are mostly dry ice, frozen carbon dioxide atmosphere (CO₂).
• Comets falling on Mars bring some water and ice to Mars. The thin Martian atmosphere means the freezing, evaporation, and boiling point of water is all at the same temperature. Thus liquid water cannot exist on the surface of Mars .

See also

• Chloride-bearing deposits on Mars
• Composition of Mars
• Geology of Mars
• List of quadrangles on Mars
• List of rocks on Mars
• Martian soil
• Mineralogy of Mars
• Ore resources on Mars

References

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17. Franz, Heather B.; Trainer, Melissa G.; Malespin, Charles A.; Mahaffy, Paul R.; Atreya, Sushil K.; Becker, Richard H.; Benna, Mehdi; Conrad, Pamela G.; Eigenbrode, Jennifer L. (2017-04-01). "Initial SAM calibration gas experiments on Mars: Quadrupole mass spectrometer results and implications". Planetary and Space Science. 138: 44–54. Bibcode:2017P&SS..138...44F. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2017.01.014. ISSN 0032-0633.
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24. "Mars & Comets - NASA". mars.nasa.gov.

v t e Spacecraft missions to Mars
List of missions to Mars List of Mars orbiters List of artificial objects on Mars
Active	Flybys Psyche (2023, flyby in 2026) Hera (2024, flyby in 2025) Europa Clipper (2024, flyby in 2025) Orbiters 2001 Mars Odyssey Mars Express Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter timeline MAVEN ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Hope Tianwen-1 orbiter Rovers Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory timeline Perseverance Mars 2020 timeline
Past	Flybys Mars 1 Mariner 4 Zond 2 Mariner 6 and 7 Mars 6 Mars 7 Rosetta Dawn Mars Cube One Orbiters Mars 2 Mars 3 Mariner 9 Mars 4 Mars 5 Viking program Viking 1 Viking 2 Phobos program Phobos 1 Phobos 2 Mars Observer Mars Global Surveyor Nozomi Mars Climate Orbiter Mangalyaan Landers Mars 2 Mars 3 Mars 6 Mars 7 Viking 1 Viking 2 Mars Pathfinder Mars Polar Lander / Deep Space 2 Beagle 2 Phoenix ExoMars Schiaparelli InSight Tianwen-1 lander Rovers PrOP-M Sojourner Mars Exploration Rover Spirit timeline Opportunity timeline Zhurong Aircraft Ingenuity helicopter flights Mars 2020
Failed launches Mars 1M No.1 1M No.2 2MV-4 No.1 2MV-3 No.1 Mariner 3 Mars 2M No.521 2M No.522 Mariner 8 Mars 3MS No.170 Mars 96 Fobos-Grunt / Yinghuo-1
Future	Planned EscaPADE (2025) Tera-hertz Explorer (TEREX) (mid 2020s) Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) (2026) Mangalyaan-2 (2026) Tianwen-3 (2028) Rosalind Franklin (2028) MBR Explorer (2028, flyby in 2031) NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return Mars Sample Recovery Helicopters Kazachok Proposed MAGGIE SpaceX Mars program Mars-Grunt
Cancelled or not developed Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey Astrobiology Field Laboratory Beagle 3 Biological Oxidant and Life Detection DePhine Icebreaker Life Marsokhod Mars 4NM & 5NM Mars 5M (Mars-79) Mars-Aster Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher (MAX-C) Mars Geyser Hopper Mars Exploration Ice Mapper Mars One Mars Micro Orbiter Mars Surveyor Lander Mars Telecommunications Orbiter MELOS rover MetNet NetLander Northern Light Next Mars Orbiter PADME Phootprint Sample Collection for Investigation of Mars (SCIM) Sky-Sailor SpaceX Red Dragon Vesta Voyager Mars
Exploration	Concepts Flyby Orbiter Landing Atmospheric entry Rover Aircraft Sample return Human mission Permanent settlement Colonization Terraforming Strategies Mars Scout Program Mars Exploration Program Mars Exploration Joint Initiative Mars Next Generation Advocacy The Mars Project The Case for Mars Inspiration Mars Mars Institute Mars Society Mars race
Missions are ordered by launch date. Sign indicates failure en route or before intended mission data returned. indicates use of the planet as a gravity assist en route to another destination.

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