Climate Rotation Feedback on Mars

Abstract

It has long been appreciated that changes in the orbital and rotational geometry of Mars will influence the seasonal and latitudinal pattern of insolation [1-5], and this will likely dominate climatic fluctuations on time scales of 101 to 107 years (6-9]. Equally important, but less widely appreciated, is the influence climatic change can have on rotational dynamics. The primary means by which climate influences rotation is via its influence on transport of mass (volatiles and dust) into and out of the polar regions. Both the rate and direction of Mars rotation can be changed by these mass fluxes, but only the directional changes are climatically relevant.