Water and Martian habitability: Results of an integrative study of water related processes on Mars in context with an interdisciplinary Helmholtz research alliance “Planetary Evolution and Life”

Abstract

A study in context with the Helmholtz Alliance ‘Planetary Evolution and Life’ focused on the (temporary) existence of liquid water, and the likelihood that Mars has been or even is a habitable planet. Both geomorphological and mineralogical evidence point to the episodic availability of liquid water at the surface of Mars, and physical modeling and small-scale observations suggest that this is also true for more recent periods. Habitable conditions, however, were not uniform over space and time. Several key properties, such as the availability of standing bodies of water, surface runoff and the transportation of nutrients, were not constant, resulting in an inhomogeneous nature of the parameter space that needs to be considered in any habitability assessment. The planetary evolution of Mars led to environmental changes, which in turn affected its habitability potential. Similarly, considerable variations in climate due to latitudinal or elevation effects combined with a diverse surface geology caused distinctively different local conditions that influenced the planet׳s habitable potential.