New Research Suggests Presence of Concealed Ocean Beneath Surface of Mars

This water, estimated to be located approximately 7 to 12 miles below the crust, is hidden within cracks in underground rocks.

On Monday, the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight Lander) released a new study showing that an underground reservoir of water may reside beneath the surface of Mars.

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This water, estimated to be located approximately 7 to 12 miles (11.5 to 20 km) below the Martian crust, is hidden within cracks in underground rocks. The volume of water present is substantial enough to potentially form a global ocean on Mars.

According to the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the findings are based on seismic measurements from NASA’s Mars InSight lander, which used a seismometer to detect Mars’ interior between 2018 and 2022.

The water on Mars is believed to have transiently existed on the planet’s surface over 3 billion years ago when Mars had rivers, lakes, and oceans, said planetary scientist Vashan Wright of the University of California, San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, lead author of the study.

However, as Mars’ atmosphere thinned, it is thought to have lost its surface water. The new findings suggest that the water has seeped into Mars’ crust.

“Understanding the Martian water cycle is critical for understanding the evolution of the climate, surface and interior,” Wright said.

“Scientists have been analysing the data collected by the lander in search of more information about Mars’s interior… Mars is thought to have lost its surface water as its atmosphere thinned, turning the planet into the dry, dusty world known today. Scientists theorise that much of this ancient water escaped out into space or remained buried below,” Al Jazeera recalled.

teleSUR/ JF Sources: Xinhua – Al Jazeera