North/South Asymmetries in the Water-Equivalent Hydrogen Distribution at High Latitudes on Mars

Bill Feldman

(Planetary Science Institute)

Water content and burial depths derived from thermal and epithermal neutron currents measured by the Mars Odyssey Neutron Spectrometer are used to determine north/south asymmetries and inter-correlations at high latitudes on Mars. Our goal is to contrast observed asymmetries with predictions based on current climate conditions. The average mass fraction of water-equivalent hydrogen within the buried layer is higher on average in the south between 60 and 70 latitude and is strongly anti-correlated with burial depth in both hemispheres. These results argue that the observed water content at high latitudes mirror present climate conditions and is not a legacy from previous obliquity cycles.