Submitted by magenta_placenta t3_yymoqt in space
axionic t1_iwx7awg wrote
Mars lost water when UV broke apart water molecules in the upper atmosphere. The lighter hydrogen atoms move faster and can possibly exceed escape velocity on Mars. The heavier oxygen atoms will take a suborbital path and return to the surface, which has an abundance of oxygen and very little hydrogen, although what little hydrogen there is should be enriched in deuterium, which is more likely to fall back down.
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