Re: Mars liquid water stability from PNAS
BarryD wrote:
This paper published in PNAS shows charts were liquid water would be stable from time to time...
Alex writes:
Indeed, it's a nice piece of modelling, but note the authors correctly state "...liquid water would be stable IF IT WERE [emphasis mine] present." One of the most common errors in reasoning I encounter among amateur Mars water enthusiasts is the ignorance (willful or otherwise) of the third component, aside from temperature and pressure, for the stability of liquid water on the Martian surface, namely, water itself. All three conditions have to be satisfied.
Alex R. Blackwell
University of Hawaii