Liquid amounting to a 1-2km-deep ocean may be frozen up to 20km below surface, calculations suggest
Scientists say that more than 3bn years ago, Mars not only had lakes and rivers but oceans on its surface – however, as the planet lost its atmosphere these bodies disappeared. All that is visible today is permafrost ice at the planet’s poles.
Now scientists say their calculations suggest vast quantities of liquid water are to be found trapped within rocks about 11.5-20km below the Martian surface. Wright added that if the measurements at the Insight lander location were representative of the whole planet, the amount of water trapped in the rock fractures would fill a 1-2km-deep ocean on Mars.
While the results do not rule out the possibility that water has also been lost to space or trapped in minerals, Wright said the work allowed scientists to re-assess the relative contributions of these different mechanisms to the loss of past Martian surface water.“The presence of water does not signify that there is life, but water is thought to be an important ingredient for life,” said Wright. “We know that life can exist in the deep subsurface of the Earth, where there is water.
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