NASA’s InSight Lander Finds Evidence of Liquid Water Deep Beneath Mars’ Surface
A study released on Monday, using data from NASA’s Mars InSight lander, reveals evidence of liquid water far below the surface of the Red Planet. This discovery advances the search for life on Mars and sheds light on what may have happened to the planet’s ancient oceans.
The InSight lander, which has been on Mars since 2018, collected seismic data over four years. By analyzing how quakes shook the ground, scientists were able to determine the materials and substances beneath the Martian surface.
Researchers concluded that liquid water is most likely present deep beneath the lander’s location. Water is considered essential for life, and geological studies indicate that Mars once had lakes, rivers, and oceans more than 3 billion years ago.
“On Earth, we know that where there is enough moisture and energy sources, microbial life exists deep in the subsurface,” said Vashan Wright, one of the study’s authors from the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. “If our interpretations are correct, the ingredients for life as we know it exist in the Martian subsurface.”
The study found that large reservoirs of liquid water, located in fractures 11.5 kilometers (7.15 miles) to 20 kilometers beneath the surface, best explained the InSight measurements.
The researchers noted that the volume of liquid water beneath the surface is likely “more than the water volumes proposed to have filled hypothesized ancient Martian oceans.”
“On Earth, groundwater infiltrated from the surface to deep underground,” Wright explained. “We expect this process to have occurred on Mars as well when the upper crust was warmer than it is today.”
While there is currently no way to directly study water that deep beneath Mars’ surface, the study’s authors stated that their findings have significant implications for understanding Mars’ water cycle, determining the fate of past surface water, searching for past or present life, and assessing resources for future missions.
The study, co-authored by Matthias Morzfeld of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Michael Manga of the University of California Berkeley, was published the week of August 12 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Source: Reuters
