HR: 1330h
AN: P32A-1066    [PDF]
TI: Mass dragged from Mars's atmosphere by the solar wind
AU: * Durand-Manterola, H J
EM: hdurand_manterola@yahoo.com
AF: Dept. de Fˇsica Espacial Instituto de Geofˇsica UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria M‚xico DF M‚xico, Mexico City, DF 04510
AB: In the past Mars had a denser atmosphere, but it lacks a magnetic field to protect the ionosphere and exosphere from the solar wind. A model describing the loss of atmosphere by the erosion of the solar wind in geologic time is presented. Recent results shows that the Martian dynamo existed in Early and Middle Noachian. Then solar wind erosion would have started at the end of Middle Noachian or the beginning of Late Noachian. With this assumption the amount of volatiles dragged by the solar wind, if the chronology developed by Neukum and Wise is correct, is in the range of 0.472 to 1.89 Terrestrial Atmospheric Masses (TAM). If the chronology developed by Hartmann et al. is correct, the loss remains in the range of 0.0624 to 0.25 TAM.
DE: 2152 Pickup ions
DE: 2164 Solar wind plasma
DE: 5407 Atmospheres--evolution
DE: 6225 Mars
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting