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Posted

In the distant past our Sun was much dimmer than it is today, the science on this is pretty much confirmed, Faint sun paradox , during this time the Earth is thought to have had a large amounts of CO2 and Methane in its atmosphere to allow the Earth to have liquid water on its surface. On the other hand Mars is considered by many as too small to have had such an extensive atmosphere.

I am proposing that Mars was an ice world similar to Jupiter's Moon Callisto but much larger. Being an ice encased world would allow for liquid water at the surface covered by a world wide ice sheet with a very thin atmosphere.

As the magnetic field of Mars was lost the Solar Wind would have swept the atmosphere of Mars away and slowly stripped away the ice by photo desiccation of the ice shell of Mars. This would have resulted in the surface being eroded by water while the ice shell was intact and as the ice shell was eroded and swept away the surface of Mars would have become the dessicated surface we see but with evidence of water flowing as well. Much like water flowing beneath a glacier on earth but on a much larger scale. 

The would allow for the faint young sun and the evidence of liquid water on Mars.    

Posted
52 minutes ago, swansont said:
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Moderator Note

You need to provide the science behind this proposal.

 

What exactly are you asking for? I have proposed that the faint young sun and the surface features we see today are explained by the ice world scenario I propose and the effect of the solar wind. Should I have posted this in speculations?  

Posted
31 minutes ago, Moontanman said:

What exactly are you asking for? I have proposed that the faint young sun and the surface features we see today are explained by the ice world scenario I propose and the effect of the solar wind. Should I have posted this in speculations?  

Unless this is the summary of an existing (i.e. published) paper, or in a textbook somewhere, it’s your conjecture, which means speculations. So yes, that’s where it should have been posted, and where it now resides.

Posted
1 hour ago, swansont said:

Unless this is the summary of an existing (i.e. published) paper, or in a textbook somewhere, it’s your conjecture, which means speculations. So yes, that’s where it should have been posted, and where it now resides.

Thank you, I apologize for posting it in an inappropriate place. I have been rolling this idea around in my head for quite some time and I want it to be debated appropriately. I know the Faint Young Sun Paradox is a real thing and atmospheres being stripped from smaller planets/moons by the solar wind is a real thing and lack of a magnetic field is thought to accelerate that. 

My own small contribution is that a planet closer to the sun than, for instance Jupiter's moons, would evolve in the direction of desiccated barron surface from a rocky core with and ice shell is just my speculation.  

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