Mars Stripped Bare – Scientists Finally Reveal the Explosive Truth About Its Missing Atmosphere!

Billions of years ago, Mars was a planet teeming with possibility. Its thick atmosphere, liquid water, and magnetic field once made it an ideal candidate for life to thrive. But something changed. The atmosphere that had once enveloped the Red Planet disappeared, transforming Mars into the cold, barren desert world we know today. For decades, scientists have puzzled over the question: where did Mars’ atmosphere go?

A group of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) may have finally cracked the code. They believe the answer lies within Mars itself—specifically, in the planet’s crust, where iron-rich clay may have trapped much of the lost atmosphere. This groundbreaking idea suggests that Mars didn’t just lose its atmosphere; it may have stored it underground in the form of methane.

Clues Beneath the Surface

The team proposes that around 3.5 billion years ago, much of Mars’ atmosphere was absorbed by its crust. As water moved through the rocks, it kicked off a series of chemical reactions that drew carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. Over time, this process converted the CO2 into methane, which became locked in clay minerals beneath the surface.

“We find that estimates of global clay volumes on Mars are consistent with a significant fraction of Mars’ initial CO2 being sequestered as organic compounds within the clay-rich crust,” explains Dr. Joshua Murray, a recent graduate from MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS).

These findings suggest that Mars’ crust may hold the key to its atmospheric mystery, with the methane stored in iron-rich clays, known as smectites, for billions of years. Smectites have an impressive capacity to store carbon, allowing large amounts of methane to remain trapped beneath the surface.

A Hidden Energy Source?

The idea that methane could be hiding in Martian clays has an exciting implication for future exploration. According to Oliver Jagoutz, a professor of geology at MIT, “This methane could still be present and maybe even used as an energy source on Mars in the future.” If proven, this discovery could open the door to using methane as fuel for future missions between Mars and Earth.

The researchers calculated that smectites on Mars could hold as much as 1.7 bar of CO2, representing up to 80% of the planet’s early atmosphere. “Based on our findings on Earth, we show that similar processes likely operated on Mars, and that copious amounts of atmospheric CO2 could have transformed to methane and been sequestered in clays,” Jagoutz adds.

How Mars Lost Its Atmosphere

Mars was once a very different place, with conditions that might have supported life. Researchers believe that CO2 filled the atmosphere and water flowed on its surface, creating a habitable environment. But as the planet cooled, water began seeping into the rocks, carrying CO2 with it. This water reacted with a mineral rich in iron called olivine, which is abundant on Mars. The reaction created iron oxide, giving the planet its familiar reddish hue, and freed hydrogen molecules that combined with CO2 to form methane.

As more water seeped into the ground, the olivine slowly transformed into smectites, locking away the methane and with it, much of the planet’s atmosphere. Over time, the once-thick atmosphere thinned, leaving behind the cold, dry world we see today.

A Missing Puzzle Piece

For years, scientists have searched for the missing pieces of Mars’ atmospheric puzzle, and now it seems some of them may have been hiding in plain sight all along. Dr. Murray remarks, “These smectite clays have so much capacity to store carbon.” By studying how these clays hold methane on Earth, the team was able to make a convincing case that similar processes occurred on Mars.

While there’s still much to learn about what happened to Mars’ atmosphere, this new research offers a promising explanation. It also raises intriguing questions about the future: Could the methane locked in Martian clays one day be harnessed as an energy source for human explorers?

Only time—and further exploration—will tell. But for now, scientists may be closer than ever to solving the mystery of Mars’ missing atmosphere.