Mars May Be Hiding an Ocean of Liquid Water Under Its Surface
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Summary
Researchers from the University of Oxford and the Australian National University believe there could be enough water on Mars to cover the planet in an ocean more than 600 metres deep.
The ‘missing’ water, which exceeds the volume of Earth’s Arctic ice sheet, may have seeped into the planet’s crust, where it would remain in a liquid state due to warmer temperatures, they say.
They came to this conclusion by studying seismic waves that had travelled through the Martian interior and were detected by the NASA InSight lander.
The research could have significant implications for future human exploration of Mars.
While the finding raises hopes that life could thrive below the planet’s surface, it also poses challenges as any buried water would need to be protected from Earthly microbes, which could contaminate it.
