New Mars study suggests an ocean’s worth of water may be hiding beneath the red dusty surface
New Mars study suggests an ocean’s worth of water may be hiding beneath the red dusty surface
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Mars may be drenched beneath its surface, with enough water hiding in the cracks of underground rocks to form a global ocean, new research suggests.
The findings released Monday are based on seismic measurements from NASA’s Mars InSight lander, which detected more than 1,300 marsquakes before shutting down two years ago.
This water — believed to be seven miles to 12 miles (11.5 kilometers to 20 kilometers) down in the Martian crust — most likely would have seeped from the surface billions of years ago when Mars harbored rivers, lakes and possibly oceans, according to the lead scientist, Vashan Wright of the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Just because water still may be sloshing around inside Mars does not mean it holds life, Wright said.
“Instead, our findings mean that there are environments that could possibly be habitable,” he said in an email.
