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Mars may be hiding an ocean of water miles below its dusty surface, research suggests

By Stephanie Weaver
Published  August 13, 2024 9:46am PDT
Air and Space
KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco

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The Brief:

    • Data has revealed evidence of an underground reservoir of water deep beneath the surface of Mars.
    • Scientists say the water is believed to be seven miles to 12 miles down in the Martian crust.
    • The findings are based on computer modeling as well as seismic measurements from NASA's InSight lander.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - New research suggests that Mars may be drenched beneath its surface with enough water, trapped in tiny cracks and pores of rock, to form a global ocean. 

According to the findings released Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the water is believed to be seven to 12 miles beneath the surface in the Martian crust, and most likely would have seeped from the surface more than billions of years ago when Mars harbored rivers, lakes and possibly oceans. 

The data is based on seismic measurements from NASA’s Mars InSight lander, which detected more than 1,300 marsquakes before shutting down two years ago.

The research team combined computer models with InSight readings including the quakes’ velocity in determining underground water was the most likely explanation. 

FILE: Mars planet (Credit: Space Frontiers/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

If InSight’s location at Elysium Planitia near Mars’ equator is representative of the rest of the red planet, the underground water would be enough to fill a global ocean a mile or so, the lead scientist, Vashan Wright of the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, told the Associated Press.

It would take drills and other equipment to confirm the presence of water and seek out any potential signs of microbial life.

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The researchers said the results have implications for understanding Mars’ water cycle, determining the fate of past surface water and searching for past or extant life. 

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Although the InSight lander is no longer working, scientists continue to analyze the data collected from 2018 through 2022, in search of more information about Mars’ interior.

Based on this evidence, the research team said that Mars was likely a warmer, wetter place billions of years ago. Much of this water is hypothesized to have been sequestered in the subsurface or lost to space, becoming the dry, dusty planet known today.

Water frost found on Mars' volcanoes

In June, a team of scientists detected patches of water frost on Mars’ tallest volcanoes, challenging existing ideas of the Red Planet’s climate dynamics and providing key insights for future exploration. 

According to a news release from Brown University, the discovery was made atop Mars’ Tharsis volcanoes, the tallest volcanoes in the entire solar system. The team’s study was published in Nature Geoscience. 

It’s the first time frost had been found near Mars’ equator: researchers previously thought it was an "improbable" place for frost to form. 

The Source:

  • This information was provided be a report called Liquid water in the Martian mid-crust published on August 12, 2024 in  the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The Associated Press contributed to this story.

This story was reported from Los Angeles.

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