Huge glaciers lie under the sea on the East Antarctic Plateau. To enhance future scenarios featuring rising sea levels, it is necessary to comprehend how these glaciers will respond to increasing temperatures in the atmosphere and the ocean.
Researchers say a rock formation in the Inuvialuit region could explain how the mineral jarosite forms in Martian environments, and explain how Mars may be more habitable than previously thought.
Antarctic ice reveals Martian mineral that s rarely found on Earth
Isabella O Malley
Tuesday, February 2nd 2021, 6:00 am - Researchers say that the discovery of jarosite deep within Antarctic ice could have significant implications for how future ice cores are analyzed.
Researchers from the University of Milan knew that their mile-long ice core sample would reveal astonishing insight into Earth’s past, but their discovery of a Martian mineral could add to the mystery of Mars’ uniquely dry environment and could change how some ice core samples are interpreted.
An article posted in
Nature Communications states that researchers have discovered jarosite inside a large ice dome in East Antarctica. The researchers were drilling several hundred metres deep into the Talos Dome to collect ice core samples and told Science magazine that they never expected to find jarosite crystals because it is a mineral that is abundant on Mars but rarely seen on Earth.
Antarctic ice shows traces of Martian mineral
Researchers trying to understand ice age cycles by examining deep ice cores in Antarctica found jarosite, a mineral that is abundant on the Martian surface.
In a study published in the journal
Nature Communications, the scientists said this finding is important because it may help confirm previous theories that suggest there has been water on Mars. This is because on Earth, jarosite is rare and when it forms, it does so as the result of low-temperature acidic-oxidative weathering of iron-bearing minerals in water-limited settings. It may also appear as a byproduct of zinc refining.