Milankovitch forcing of equilibrium ground-ice on Mars

Exchangeable ice deposits are present today on the surface of Mars in polar caps and in the shallow subsurface in mid-latitudes. Geologic observations indicate these deposits waxed and waned in the past, at times, along with the emplacement and loss of equatorial glaciers. Here, we couple a climate model with an ice stability criterion, to self-consistently determine the distribution of the mid-latitude ground-ice deposits in diffusive equilibrium with the atmosphere, at present and under past orbital configurations. This new coupling and iteration between the short-term and long-term models improves upon past calculations that do not allow the ice table to evolve over timescales much longer than the annual climate dynamics. The model predictions for the extent of the equilibrium ice-table in the past match the latitudinal distribution of terrain softening geologic features previously mapped. At past times, thermally stable shallow ground ice is expected even in equatorial regions, in parts of Tharsis and Arabia Terra. • We couple a Mars climate model with a ground-ice stability criterion self-consistently. • The calculations are performed for present and past orbital configurations. • Model predictions match the latitudinal distribution of previously mapped features.