1st: Dry ice is solid CO[sub]2[/sub], not H[sub]2[/sub]O.
I
knew that... ;¬)
2nd: the mechanism? it's called low temperature - I think you'll find that solids, not being gases, do not dissociate into the gaseous atmosphere - also most of the ice crystals are underneath the ground, in the soil
Ever notice, after an ice-storm (or even snow), and the temperature never gets above freezing for weeks, after a couple of days the "night-gremlins" start disappearing the ice? How about the ice-cube-tray in your freezer---ignore it for a few weeks, and the cubes (usually
ice CRESCENTS nowadays...) get
smaller and smaller then disappear altogether??? Well, the CHIEF of them gremlins, is a little guy called "sublimation". Same thing for "dry-ice", 'cause we aren't anywhere NEAR the pressure needed for the "melting" phase. Mars air is nearly 100% CO[sub]2[/sub], so the polar "ice" caps (in
my understanding) were always "dry-ice".
We don't know the odds, but we do know that water is a prerequesite for life as we understand it. If water is present, then the odds go up significantly.
Heh heh heh! Thanx for the chuckle! Mars has no "Van-Allen-Radiation-Belt". Thus the proliferation of complex organic molecules (let alone DNA & RNA & proteins), in the unshielded solar and cosmic flux, AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN. (Maybe in CAVES, where ROCK blocks radiation---but with the peak temp >70°F, and lows <-250°, we would expect the mean subterranean temps to be c-c-c-COLD!) Now, given the odds for a PRIMITIVE 10-unit virus (as IF!), if we are extraordinarily generous and set each unit's probability as 1/1000, the 10-unit-chain has a likelihood of 1 in 10[sup]30[/sup]. A number that represents
essentially the quantity of ELECTRONS the ENTIRE UNIVERSE could hold! Oh, but we haven't STARTED. Human DNA is comprised of 23 chromosone pairs (46 individual), each individual sequenced of >3 billion components (of only 4 bases, of course---A, C, T, G). Three billion is a number you can COUNT to, if you count THREE PER SECOND, no sleep or food or bathroom breaks, and you can spare
THIRTY YEARS!!!!! :-¿
So---the odds OF life occuring here, on Earth, in its diverse forms, through mutative-replicative-advance (selected by nature of course), is essentially 1 chance in infinity. Raised to the power of infinity. Raised again. And again.
...and several MORE TIMES!
Then we hear discussions of "parallel evolution on other planets"! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!! :•D :•D
Of course, we CAN get into the "science of chaos", and the conjecture of a similar and sub-field, "Anti-Chaos", the theory that certain atomic structures just HAVE to happen (thus evading the ridiculousness of the statistical consideration... ...evading, in
theory...)
;¬) :•D
I'm just wondering what could separate the carbon dioxide from the water in the atmosphere. The MOON I can understand---if the water was held in a comet, and the impact buried it, THAT would explain the "concentration at a given locale"---besides, Lunar gravity is insufficient for more than a trace atmosphere (but water vapor might explain the pre-dawn-glow the Apollo astronauts saw).