Water on Mars: Isotopic constraints on exchange between the atmosphere and surface

Abstract

Using a new measurement of the D/H fractionation efficiency and new estimates of the water loss, we calculate that Mars has the equivalent of a ~9 m global water layer in a reservoir that exchanges with the atmosphere. The measured D/H enrichment is about 5 times the terrestrial value, but without exchange, the atmosphere converges on an enrichment of 50 in about 0.5 Ma. Due to the large buffering reservoir and the rapid loss rate (10-3 pr-μm yr-1), the small atmospheric reservoir, averaging 10 pr-μm, is unlikely to be in continuous isotopic equilibrium with the full 9 m exchangeable reservoir. Instead, it presumably equilibrates during periods of high obliquity; the atmospheric D/H ratio is expected to be enriched in between such periods. If isotopic exchange with a small (4 mm global layer) reservoir occurs under current conditions, it possible for the atmospheric D/H ratio to be within 10% of its long term equilibrium.