we will not have very good information on how much water is actually present.-=-Radiation from space can break apart water H2O (in the upper atmosphere) into H(+) ions and OH(-) ions.H(+) can then escape into space, since it is so lightweight that Mars gravity cant hold it. Earth is losing water to space in the same way.-Most of its still there.......
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The ice is thought to be mostly underground. Mars polar icecaps are composed of mostly carbon dioxide ice (dry ice) but with 20% - 30% water ice. There is thought to be enough water at the poles to cover all of Mars in a layer of 10 - 20 meters thickness. Untill we are able to drill down into the soil of Mars, we will not have very good information on how much water is actually present.
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Radiation from space can break apart water H2O (in the upper atmosphere) into H(+) ions and OH(-) ions. H(+) can then escape into space, since it is so lightweight that Mars' gravity can't hold it. Earth is losing water to space in the same way.
Most of it's still there. Since Mars doesn't have much of an atmosphere to speak of (about 1/200th what Earth has) it gets pretty cold on Mars. On average it's about as cold as an Antarctic winter's night, so most of the water in Mars is frozen into the soil as permafrost. Some areas are known to be 60% water ice by weight. In fact if you completely flattened Mars, and melted all the water, you would have a global ocean 600 feet deep. If you did the same to Earth it would be 6,000 feet deep, but still 600 feet is pretty substantial.
It either evaporated or froze.
The prospect of frozen water makes scientists exited because it is actual proof of water.
I believe that it most likely froze. But there are probably many more theories than this one.
It never had it.
I drank it.
