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The formation and evolution of Mars: Composition and early surface environment

Research Project

Project/Area Number 19J13927
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Section国内
Review Section Basic Section 17010:Space and planetary sciences-related
Research InstitutionTokyo Institute of Technology

Principal Investigator

WOO Man Yin  東京工業大学, 理学院, 特別研究員(DC2)

Project Period (FY) 2019-04-25 – 2020-03-31
Project Status Discontinued (Fiscal Year 2019)
Budget Amount *help
¥2,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000)
Fiscal Year 2019: ¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
KeywordsMars / isotope / giant impact / planet formation / SPH / N-body
Outline of Research at the Start

The early history of the terrestrial planets is still a mystery. In our study, we will combine numerical simulations with cosmochemical data obtained from meteorites to constraint the formation and the early evolution of Mars, which is crucial to answer whether life could have existed on Mars.

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

I published two papers during my PhD study. The first paper is about combining isotopic data from meteoritic study and N-body simulation results to further constrain planet formation models. Our team found that in order to reproduce the isotopic differences between Earth and Mars, a compositional change of the initial solid disk from enstatite chondrite to ordinary chondrite have to occur at around 1.3 AU from the Sun, regardless of the dynamical models we adopted for the N-body simulations. This study opens the door of combining meteoritic studies with computational simulation data to study planet formation.
My second paper focuses on dictating the early surface environment on Mars after a single giant impact. Our team combined Smooth particle hydrodynamic (SPH) simulations with analytical theory to calculate whether a giant impact between a Ceres-sized impact and the early Mars is sufficient in changing the early surface environment on Mars. Such giant impact is likely to have occurred no later than 4480 Ma. We found that after the giant impact, about 3 bars of hydrogen (H2) gas is formed. A thick H2 atmosphere could be an important source for triggering life on a planet since it maintains a reducing environment which favorite pre-biotic chemistry. However, such thick H2 atmosphere is unlikely to survive more than 20 Myr, due to the active young Sun. Hence we concluded that it is difficult for life to emerge on Mars after this late giant impact. This is an indicative research on the possibility of searching for extraterrestrial life on Mars.

Research Progress Status

令和元年度が最終年度であるため、記入しない。

Strategy for Future Research Activity

令和元年度が最終年度であるため、記入しない。

Report

(1 results)
  • 2019 Annual Research Report
  • Research Products

    (4 results)

All 2019

All Journal Article (1 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 1 results,  Peer Reviewed: 1 results) Presentation (2 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 2 results) Funded Workshop (1 results)

  • [Journal Article] Mars in the aftermath of a colossal impact2019

    • Author(s)
      Woo, J. M. Y., Genda, H., Brasser, R., Mojzsis, S. J.
    • Journal Title

      Icarus

      Volume: 333 Pages: 87-95

    • DOI

      10.1016/j.icarus.2019.05.015

    • Related Report
      2019 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] The curious case of Mars formation2019

    • Author(s)
      Jason Man Yin Woo
    • Organizer
      The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society
    • Related Report
      2019 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Mars in the aftermath of colossal impact2019

    • Author(s)
      Jason Man Yin Woo
    • Organizer
      The 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
    • Related Report
      2019 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Funded Workshop] The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society2019

    • Related Report
      2019 Annual Research Report

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Published: 2019-05-29   Modified: 2024-03-26  

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