Janice R. Andrews
A group of geophysicists have made a ground-breaking discovery that suggests liquid water exists on Mars’s interior, a revelation that has the potential to drastically alter our perception of the planet. This new evidence suggests that liquid water may be hidden considerably deeper in Mars’ crust, despite the fact that water is known to exist on the planet in the form of vapor in its atmosphere and ice at its poles. Reaching this water may be challenging, though, given its depth.
The finding is the result of an examination of seismic data that NASA’s Mars Insight Lander gathered over a four-year period. The scientists studied seismic velocities, or the speed at which seismic waves move through Mars, using the lander’s seismometer, which captured ground motions on the planet. The researchers came to the conclusion that fragmented igneous rocks saturated with liquid water are present in the mid-crust of Mars after analyzing this data and identifying minerals beneath the surface.
One of the scientists working on the project, Professor Michael Manga of the University of California, Berkeley, described how the group used methods that are frequently used on Earth to look for gas, oil, or water. Manga thinks that this discovery contributes to answering a persistent query: Where on Mars did all the water go? Although there were lakes and rivers on Mars some three billion years ago, it seemed as though all of the planet’s water had disappeared. A widely held belief states that a significant portion of the water was lost to space, although other research reveals that a significant portion is still trapped in Mars’ crust.
According to this most recent study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a sizable amount of Mars’ water is still subterranean. According to scientific theories, there may be comparable water reserves all across the earth, with enough liquid water below the surface to create a layer that may be half a mile deep. “Much of our water is underground, and there’s no reason that that shouldn’t be the case on Mars too,” claims Manga.
Reaching these subterranean water reservoirs would be quite difficult, though. The depth of the liquid water on Mars is seven to twelve miles below the surface. Drilling to such depths on Earth is already a challenging undertaking; on Mars, the endeavor would be far more formidable. Manga pointed out that drilling thus deep on Mars would be incredibly difficult, even with cutting-edge technology and the efforts of visionaries like Elon Musk. Life on Mars is still unlikely if there is no access to liquid water.
Although this finding represents a major advancement in our knowledge of Mars’ hydrology, it also highlights the difficulties that still need to be overcome in order to fully explore the planet and determine whether it is habitable for humans.
