An estimation of the mass dragged by the solar wind from Mars’s atmosphere in its geologic history

Abstract

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 for describing the loss of atmosphere in geologic time is presented. The amount of volatiles degassed from Mars was in the order of 193.7 Terrestrial Atmospheric Masses (TAM). The amount of volatiles dragged by the solar wind, if the large chronology is correct, is in the range of 0.472 to 1.89 TAM. If the short chronology is correct, the loss remains in the range of 0.0624 to 0.25 TAM. The amount of volatiles dragged by the solar wind is far less than the degassed mass; hence the drag exerted by the solar wind does not account for the bulk of volatiles lost by Mars.

Keywords

• Mars
• solar wind
• martian atmosphere