Martian resources and restoration/terraforming of Martian environment

We consider the problem of using the current Martian resources for the reconstruction of the past Martian environment or/and Mars terraforming projects. The Martian environment billions of years ago, was similar to the goals of terraforming Mars. The main difference is oxygen, which occurs in large quantities in Earth's current atmosphere. However, billions of years ago, oxygen was almost non existent on both Mars and Earth. Of course, if any Martian organisms originated and survived, restoration would mean restoring for these organisms their lost environment.

The arguments for reconstruction are similar as those for terraforming: Mars (after reconstruction) may be humanity's last hope. Although a reconstructed Martian atmosphere would have too much CO2 and too little oxygen, its pressure will be enough to allow human to life with only an oxygen mask on the planet's surface.

Let us note that the terraforming is an attempt to find a place for humanity in the event of a catastrophe. There could be a number of reasons why terraforming would be necessary, e.g.:

1. Radical increasing of volcanic activity, including supervolcanos eruptions. The Permian–Triassic extinction killed 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species.

2. Global warming. Current forecasts predict a moderate temperature increase. The example of conditions on Venus indicates that worse scenarios are theoretically possible. With the special values of parameters, a temperature increase could occur that would practically make life on Earth impossible.

3. Unrestricted nuclear war. The use of large numbers of dirty (cobalt) bombs could result in severe contamination of vast areas of the Earth.

4. Others, e.g. dramatic environmental pollution, new deadly bacteria etc.

In previous papers [1, 2], we consider the main problem of some terraforming versions, i.e., the transport gigantic masses of volatiles from Kuiper Belt. This doesn't change the fact that exploiting Martian resources will also be beneficial. The Martian resources cannot be reliably determined at this time, but of course, if any terraforming program is implemented, these resources will be explored, identified, and exploited.

Currently, estimates are possible mainly for the polar caps. They contain large amount of CO2 and water. Releasing the CO2 contained there would increase the atmospheric pressure by approximately 30-60 kPa [3]. It means that any terraforming of Mars that include significant temperature increase (i.e. probably everyone), will result in the release of large mass of CO2 from the polar cups.

However, CO2 is a gas whose content in the final atmosphere should be small. Earth's atmosphere contains approximately 0.04%. For humans, concentrations below 500 ppm is harmless. Above 5%, it is toxic. Therefore, the amount of CO2 should be significantly reduced. Thanks to the development of genetic engineering, suitable organisms, e.g., appropriately modified plants or bacteria, can be created for this purpose. The release of oxygen from the CO2 may ensure oxygen content in the atmosphere. This means that terraforming Mars might not require large transport of oxygen.

To enable terrestrial organisms to live on Mars, they must be provided with basic elements known as the "CHNOPS" elements (Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, Sulphur). Nitrogen is particularly important here, as it is a main component of the atmosphere. Some nitrates are found in the soil of Mars. However, the situation isn't as clear as with oxygen because we can't estimate how much nitrogen could be extracted from them. Remember, we want Mars's future atmosphere to be about 78% nitrogen that requires about 3.5E 10^18 kg. Probably we will have to transport at least part of this amount of nitrogen in the form of nitrates (e.g., NH3, HCN) to Mars.

However, our plan is not to create a desert planet, even if it has a breathable atmosphere. We want, at least at some places, to create permanent water reservoirs in equilibrium with the atmosphere, i.e., to restore a complete hydrological cycle. In its history, Mars has been drastically depleted of water resources.

Unfortunately, our current information does not allow to determine how much water we can extract from the Martian crust. It contains a significant amount of water in hydrated minerals. [4] estimate that there are 130–260 m global equivalent layer (GEL) of water. Even more optymistic are [5]. They found (based on the seismic data from InSight lander) significant low-velocity layer in Martian crust between depths of 5.4 and 8 km. They interpreted this zone as high-porosity, water-saturated layer. They estimated that the layer hold a liquid water volume of 520–780 m of GEL. However, [6] states that data from InSight do not require a water-saturated mid crust. To solve this problem, we would need a few more seismographs on Mars.

Note that with access to some energy, water can be extracted from some sources, e.g. from hydrated minerals, from polar permafrost, underground reservoirs etc. The energy cost could be probably lower than transport from KB. However water from these sources could be unstable. Instead to take part in the hydrological cycle it will escape into traps. This instability may give rise to the Sisyphean effect, i.e. effects of your work will fast vanish. The Sisyphean effect increases the value of water transported from the Kuiper Belt.

Acknowledgments:

The research was partially performed as part of the statutory activities of CBK PAN. No additional funding.

[1] L. Czechowski (2025).. LPSC 2025, 1858.pdf

[2] L. Czechowski (2026),  LPSC 2026, 1457.pdf.

[3] R.M., Zubrin, and McKay, P. (1993) NASA Ames ResearchCenter (c.1993). .

[4] L. J. Wernicke, B. M. Jakosky (2021) . JGR planets. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JE006351

[5] Weijia Sun, et al. (2025). National Science Review 12: nwaf166, 2025 https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaf166

[6] Jakosky, B. (2025). Letter Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. 122 (11) e2418978122 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2418978122