US EditionMeteorites and marsquakes hint at an underground ocean of liquid water on the red planet
- Using seismic recordings from two meteorite impacts in 2021 and a marsquake in 2022, researchers detected signs of liquid water contained within a layer located between 5.4 and 8 kilometers beneath the surface of Mars.
- This discovery follows decades of evidence that ancient Mars was wet, but much of its water is unaccounted for, prompting scientists to question where the missing water might reside today.
- The study estimates this subsurface water could cover Mars in a global ocean 520 to 780 meters deep and may form porous rock layers similar to Earth’s aquifers.
- Professor Hrvoje Tkal i described the water-bearing layer as a 'low-velocity layer' like a saturated sponge filled with liquid water, which slowed seismic waves detected by NASA’s InSight lander.
- These discoveries suggest viable environments for Martian organisms and offer critical resources for upcoming crewed missions, but confirmatory studies using seismic instruments and drilling technology are necessary to locate and characterize these underground water sources.
39 Articles
39 Articles
Scientists May Have Found a Massive Ocean of Water Deep Beneath Mars’ Surface
Scientists have uncovered a seismic signature beneath Mars’ surface that hints at something astonishing—liquid water may still exist in the planet’s upper crust. This exciting research comes from an international team of scientists: Dr. Weijia Sun and Dr. Yongxin Pan from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dr. Hrvoje [...]
Mysterious giant structures discovered beneath the surface of Mars
Giant, dense structures have been discovered beneath the surface of Mars and they are leaving experts both mystified and excited.The first of these, confirmed by researchers in a fascinating paper, is an underground mass measuring around 1,750 kilometres (just over 1,000 miles) across, at a depth of...
Mars' rust suggests it was once wet — and its seas frigid
A beach day on early Mars would not have been a pleasant getaway. A new look at the Red Planet has turned up a possible ancient coastline in its northern hemisphere. A second study hints that the mineral giving Mars its current rosy hue likely needed frigid water to form. “We can imagine an early Mars with abundant liquid water,” says Alberto Fairén. This astrobiologist was not involved in either study. He works at the Center for Astrobiology in…
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