<p>Had you asked a couple of months ago the answer would be "probably yes", now it is more "maybe".</p>

<p>Pure water could not exist in the Martian Environment. The pressure is too low, so the water would turn to water vapour.</p>

<p>Yes, if you produce hyper-concentrated brine it can remain in liquid form for a while in some martian environments. Solutions of perchlorates have been shown to keep liquids from freezing even when conditions are as cold as minus 70 Celsius. T<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-confirms-evidence-that-liquid-water-flows-on-today-s-mars" rel="nofollow noreferrer">his was thought to be the cause of recurring slope lineae</a> (ie lines that repeatedly appear on slopes around the equator). The actual model of how water (or brine) could get there was challenging. </p>

<p><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/recurring-martian-streaks-flowing-sand-not-water" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Further modelling</a> this year suggests that the features appear to be "granular flows" ie sand, not water. They don't exist on shallow slopes. Water will flow downhill on any slope, but sand needs a steep slope to flow. Since the lines only appear on steeper slopes, they look more like sand flows not water. </p>

<p>However, water is involved, as hydrated salts have been detected on slopes with the lines. There is no clear mechanism for causing sand to start to slide, on some slopes and not others.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-27T09:30:01.513Z
2017-12-27T14:40:42.463Z
2017-12-27T14:40:42.463Z
James K
<p>Liquid water can in principle exist at many locations on present-day Mars, but there are a few interesting twists to the story.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>At low elevation, the atmospheric pressure is high enough. The triple point pressure of H2O is 611 Pascal, which corresponds to about mid-elevation. At low elevations, such as the northern lowlands, the atmospheric pressure will exceed the triple point pressure, so the liquid phase of H2O becomes possible.</p></li>
<li><p>There will be substantial "sublimation cooling" or evaporative cooling. When the partial pressure of H2O is almost as high as the total pressure, vapor rapidly escapes into the atmosphere, which takes a lot of energy. If you put an ice cube at the equator of Mars, it will not melt, because the sublimation cooling is larger than the incoming solar energy, even at noon.</p></li>
<li><p>However, if that ice cube is covered with a thin layer of dust, or contains dust that will accumulate on top as the ice sublimates, vapor loss will be reduced. In this circumstance, ice can melt to form liquid water. </p></li>
<li><p>That leaves the question of how the ice cube would have gotten there initially. I call it the "source problem". Places on Mars that get hot have already lost all their ice, and places on Mars that have ice do not get warm enough. So, it is difficult to get liquid water on Mars, but it is possible in principle.</p></li>
<li><p>With salts, which lower the melting point, everything becomes much easier, although supplies of ice/frost and salt are needed. When water with salt evaporates, the salt concentration increases, so the solution is driven toward the eutectic point, where the melting point suppression is the strongest.</p></li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-28T09:37:46.700Z
Perhaps wind could disperse ice from colder climates to warmer ones?
Johnny
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-28T06:04:25.773Z
2017-12-28T06:04:25.773Z
Norbert S
<p>Outside of a specially crafts environment, could liquid water exist on Mars? Not some time in the distant past, but within the last few years. Mars' atmosphere is too thin for water to exist, right?</p>

<p>Perhaps if the water was mixed with salts or other minerals, its sublimation point might be altered enough to exist? Mars can get warm during its summer days, up to about 20 degrees Celsius at the equator. Perhaps, in certain areas and time periods, we may get a kind of liquid water?</p>

<p>Sorry for the speculative nature of this question, but after NASA talked about the possibility of liquid water, it got me wondering if it was possible.</p>

<mars><water>
Can Liquid Water exist on Mars?
Johnny
# Can Liquid Water exist on Mars?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-27)

Outside of a specially crafts environment, could liquid water exist on Mars? Not some time in the distant past, but within the last few years. Mars' atmosphere is too thin for water to exist, right?

Perhaps if the water was mixed with salts or other minerals, its sublimation point might be altered enough to exist? Mars can get warm during its summer days, up to about 20 degrees Celsius at the equator. Perhaps, in certain areas and time periods, we may get a kind of liquid water?

Sorry for the speculative nature of this question, but after NASA talked about the possibility of liquid water, it got me wondering if it was possible.

**Tags:** mars, water


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-12-28. Score: 9 | Accepted answer

Liquid water can in principle exist at many locations on present-day Mars, but there are a few interesting twists to the story.

1. At low elevation, the atmospheric pressure is high enough. The triple point pressure of H2O is 611 Pascal, which corresponds to about mid-elevation. At low elevations, such as the northern lowlands, the atmospheric pressure will exceed the triple point pressure, so the liquid phase of H2O becomes possible.
2. There will be substantial "sublimation cooling" or evaporative cooling. When the partial pressure of H2O is almost as high as the total pressure, vapor rapidly escapes into the atmosphere, which takes a lot of energy. If you put an ice cube at the equator of Mars, it will not melt, because the sublimation cooling is larger than the incoming solar energy, even at noon.
3. However, if that ice cube is covered with a thin layer of dust, or contains dust that will accumulate on top as the ice sublimates, vapor loss will be reduced. In this circumstance, ice can melt to form liquid water.
4. That leaves the question of how the ice cube would have gotten there initially. I call it the "source problem". Places on Mars that get hot have already lost all their ice, and places on Mars that have ice do not get warm enough. So, it is difficult to get liquid water on Mars, but it is possible in principle.
5. With salts, which lower the melting point, everything becomes much easier, although supplies of ice/frost and salt are needed. When water with salt evaporates, the salt concentration increases, so the solution is driven toward the eutectic point, where the melting point suppression is the strongest.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Perhaps wind could disperse ice from colder climates to warmer ones?  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2017-12-27. Score: 5

Had you asked a couple of months ago the answer would be "probably yes", now it is more "maybe".

Pure water could not exist in the Martian Environment. The pressure is too low, so the water would turn to water vapour.

Yes, if you produce hyper-concentrated brine it can remain in liquid form for a while in some martian environments. Solutions of perchlorates have been shown to keep liquids from freezing even when conditions are as cold as minus 70 Celsius. T[his was thought to be the cause of recurring slope lineae](https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-confirms-evidence-that-liquid-water-flows-on-today-s-mars) (ie lines that repeatedly appear on slopes around the equator). The actual model of how water (or brine) could get there was challenging.

[Further modelling](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/recurring-martian-streaks-flowing-sand-not-water) this year suggests that the features appear to be "granular flows" ie sand, not water. They don't exist on shallow slopes. Water will flow downhill on any slope, but sand needs a steep slope to flow. Since the lines only appear on steeper slopes, they look more like sand flows not water.

However, water is involved, as hydrated salts have been detected on slopes with the lines. There is no clear mechanism for causing sand to start to slide, on some slopes and not others.


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