Scientists believe they finally know what happened to Mars’ missing atmosphere

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. open image in gallery Mars’ missing atmosphere could be hiding in plain sight, scientists believe They propose that much of the missing Martian atmosphere was absorbed by the planet’s crust – in the form of methane – some 3.5 billion years ago. Researchers said that over several billion years, this process could have stored enough CO2 in the clay surface, in the form of methane, to explain most of the CO2 that went missing from the planet’s early atmosphere Researchers argue that over time, water on the Martian surface trickled down through the rocks, setting off a slow chain reaction that drew carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and converted it into methane, a form of carbon. Dr Joshua Murray, who recently graduated from MIT’s EAPS, said: “At this time in Mars’ history, we think CO2 is everywhere, in every nook and cranny, and water percolating through the rocks is full of CO2 too.” The researchers said that water would have first reacted with a mineral rich in iron known as olivine, which is abundantly available on Mars, to create iron oxide, giving the planet its orange-reddish colour. Prof Jagoutz said: “Based on our findings on Earth, we show that similar processes likely operated on Mars, and that copious amounts of atmospheric CO2 could have transformed to methane and been sequestered in clays.” Dr Murray added: “We find that estimates of global clay volumes on Mars are consistent with a significant fraction of Mars’ initial CO2 being sequestered as organic compounds within the clay-rich crust.