New research suggests Mars could have enough water under its surface to form a global ocean, according to scientists who released their findings on Monday. The discovery was based on seismic measurements captured from NASA’s Mars InSight rover, which detected over 1,300 marsquakes before shutting down two years ago.
The water is believed to be hiding in the cracks of rocks underground, possibly seven to 12 miles beneath the Martian crust. Lead scientist Vashan Wright of the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography told The Associated Press that the water may have seeped from the surface billions of years ago when Mars had rivers, lakes, and possibly oceans.
However, the presence of water under Mars’ crust does not necessarily mean it holds life, according to Wright. He explained that the findings suggest there are environments that could possibly be habitable, but further exploration is needed to confirm.
Using computer models and readings from Insight, including the velocity of the quakes, Wright’s team determined that underground water was the most likely explanation. If InSight’s location near the planet’s equator is representative of the rest of Mars, there could be enough water underground to fill a global ocean at a depth of about a mile.
Scientists would need to find a way to drill down deep enough into the planet’s crust to confirm the potential of life and the presence of water. While large volumes of water are believed to have existed on the surface of Mars over 3 billion years ago, it is hypothesized that the water either drained down into the ground or was lost to space as the planet’s atmosphere thinned, turning Mars into a dry and dusty world.
The team’s results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
