So, Mars has 130m thick ice sheets (New Scientist)

[kanukki]

According to a new article in New Scientist just below the dusty surface of Mars are ice sheets as much as 130m thick. Now I know that Surviving Mars isn't meant to be fully realistic, but it would be interesting to see if this would change any of the concepts of resource extraction, construction and living in the game. For instance, deep mining for mineral deposits would have to be quite deep to reach through the ice block.

 

[keynes2.0]

For instance, deep mining for mineral deposits would have to be quite deep to reach through the ice block.

I would assume that mars varies enormously by region. Most likely only some areas have the thick ice sheets just under the surface.

 

[greatolaf3]

How much of that ice is water ice? To my understanding, a fairly large portion of observed Martian ice is dry ice, or frozen carbon dioxide, deposited from the atmosphere during winter. And dry ice, while it has its uses, is not particularly useful on Mars.

 

[keynes2.0]

How much of that ice is water ice? To my understanding, a fairly large portion of observed Martian ice is dry ice, or frozen carbon dioxide, deposited from the atmosphere during winter. And dry ice, while it has its uses, is not particularly useful on Mars.

Interesting to know those exist but I believe this is water ice: https://www.space.com/39357-mars-water-ice-near-surface.html

 

[kanukki]

Yes, the Science article explicitly refers to 'water ice'. I'm not so familiar either with frozen CO2, or its possible applications.

Abstract
Thick deposits cover broad regions of the Martian mid-latitudes with a smooth mantle; erosion in these regions creates scarps that expose the internal structure of the mantle. We investigated eight of these locations and found that they expose deposits of water ice that can be >100 meters thick, extending downward from depths as shallow as 1 to 2 meters below the surface. The scarps are actively retreating because of sublimation of the exposed water ice. The ice deposits likely originated as snowfall during Mars’ high-obliquity periods and have now compacted into massive, fractured, and layered ice. We expect the vertical structure of Martian ice-rich deposits to preserve a record of ice deposition and past climate.

source: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6372/199

 

[Darkstar616]

Martian discoveries are consistently popping up, for the developers to incorporate every new discovery seems unlikely but it would be nice for new discoveries to be included in updates later down the line.

 

[Submaster]

Martian discoveries are consistently popping up, for the developers to incorporate every new discovery seems unlikely but it would be nice for new discoveries to be included in updates later down the line.

Making the possibility of suddenly all your colonists dying all at once because a new discovery IRL filters humans off the planet entirely, such as cosmic or solar radiation acting differently on Mars due to refractions from a CO2-rich atmosphere (as example) that could not have been known here on Terra until now. No, the Devs will not want to be TOO informed, or we'll never survive Mars!