New studies offer insight into how Mars lost its water and why the planet is not habitable today.
Mars is an astoundingly dry place today, but evidence shows that wasn't always the case.
Many have long wondered where all of the water on the planet went and why it apparently wasn't capable of spawning and supporting life.
Two new studies from the Oxford University offer suggestions.
One posits that the Martian water did not get swept away by solar winds, as a popular line of thinking suggests. Rather, it got absorbed by the planet's basalt rocks, which are 25% more absorbent than those found on Earth.
Dr. Jon Wade of Oxford's Department of Earth Sciences, the lead author of the study, commented, "its basaltic crust, resulted in a sponge-like effect."
"The planet's water then reacted with the rocks to form a variety of water bearing minerals. This water-rock reaction changed the rock mineralogy and caused the planetary surface to dry and become inhospitable to life," he further noted.
The other recent study further addresses the issue of inhabitability.
According to the research, it may be due to unfavorable halogen levels, as it seems combinations of chlorine, bromine, and iodine need to be "just right" in order to support life forms.
"Broadly speaking the inner planets in the solar system have similar composition, but subtle differences can cause dramatic differences – for example, rock chemistry," Wade said of the combined findings. "The biggest difference being, that Mars has more iron in its mantle rocks, as the planet formed under marginally more oxidising conditions."
