Dirty Ice or Icy Dirt?

Soil Moisture Saturation

UNDER-SATURATED

Not enough water to fill all of the pore space of a given soil

SATURATED

Just the right amount of water to fill all of the pore space of a given soil

OVER-SATURATED

More water than can fit in the pore space of a given soil

Saturated?

Saturated?

What is the maximum water weight % that typical dirt on Earth can hold?

100% x WeightSoil htWater Weig

htWater Weig%ht Water Weig

Design your own experiment!

Water Estimates on Earth

Guess water weight % for each of these environments

Dry Valley, Antarctica Canadian Permafrost Antarctic Glacier

Approximate water weight % for each of these environments

Dry Valley, Antarctica Canadian Permafrost Antarctic Glacier

~100 %~25 %~1 %

Water Estimates on Mars

Frostfree Map of Water at Top Meter of Mars

A

B

Visible Map of Mars Surface

A

B