Numerical simulations of radar echoes rule out basal CO2 ice deposits at Ultimi Scopuli, Mars

Article

Orosei, Roberto, Caprarelli, Graziella, Lauro, Sebastian, Pettinelli, Elena, Cartacci, Marco, Cicchetti, Andrea, Cosciotti, Barbara, De Lorenzis, Alessandro, De Nunzio, Giorgio, Mattei, Elisabetta, Nenna, Carlo, Noschese, Raffaella and Soldovieri, Francesco. 2022. "Numerical simulations of radar echoes rule out basal CO2 ice deposits at Ultimi Scopuli, Mars." Icarus. 386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115163

Article Title	Numerical simulations of radar echoes rule out basal CO2 ice deposits at Ultimi Scopuli, Mars
ERA Journal ID	1066
Article Category	Article
Authors	Orosei, Roberto, Caprarelli, Graziella, Lauro, Sebastian, Pettinelli, Elena, Cartacci, Marco, Cicchetti, Andrea, Cosciotti, Barbara, De Lorenzis, Alessandro, De Nunzio, Giorgio, Mattei, Elisabetta, Nenna, Carlo, Noschese, Raffaella and Soldovieri, Francesco
Journal Title	Icarus
Journal Citation	386
Article Number	115163
Number of Pages	13
Year	2022
Publisher	Elsevier
Place of Publication	United States
ISSN	0019-1035
	1090-2643
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115163
Web Address (URL)	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103522002652
Abstract	The principal objective of the radar sounder MARSIS experiment is to look for ice and water in the Martian subsurface. One particular focus of investigations, since 2005, has been the search for basal liquid water in the south polar layered deposits (SPLD). Anomalously strong basal echoes detected from four distinct areas at the base of the deposits at Ultimi Scopuli have been interpreted to indicate the presence of bodies of liquid water in this location, beneath a 1.5 km thick cover of ice and dust. Other explanations for the bright basal reflections have been proposed, however, including the possibility of constructive interference in layered media. Here, we test this mechanism through simulations of MARSIS radar signals propagating in models of CO2-H2O ice sequences. We then compare the results to real MARSIS data acquired over Ultimi Scopuli, finding that no CO2-H2O ice model sequence reproduces the set of real data. The results of our work have implications in relation to the global CO2 inventory of Mars.
Keywords	SPLD; Mars; MARSIS; CO2 ice ; Radar
Public Notes	Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions.
Byline Affiliations	National Institute for Astrophysics, Italy
	Centre for Astrophysics (Research)
	Centre for Astrophysics
	Third University of Rome, Italy
	Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC), Italy
	University of Salento, Italy
	Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment (IREA), Italy

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