Geophysicists discovered a massive underground reservoir of liquid water on Mars using NASA’s Insight lander seismic data. This water, which is trapped in tiny cracks and pores in rocks 11.5 to 20 kilometres below the surface, has the capacity to cover the entire planet to a depth of 1 to 2 kilometres.
While this discovery sheds fresh light on the Martian water cycle and geological history, the reservoir’s depth and difficulty of access make it unlikely to be beneficial for future Mars colonists. However, it is a prospective location for the hunt for life on Mars, given similar deep settings on Earth that support life.
The team, which included Vashan Wright and Michael Manga from UC Berkeley and Matthias Morzfeld from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, used a rock physics model to evaluate the seismic data, determining that the mid-crust is saturated with liquid water. This discovery shows that much of Mars’ ancient water sank into the planet’s crust instead of escaping into space.
The Insight mission, which launched in 2018 and ended in 2022, gave crucial data about Mars’ interior, greatly improving our understanding of the planet’s structure and possibility for life. The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
