(ORDO NEWS) — Scientists have conducted a new study, the results of which demonstrate that liquid water is present under the ice cap located in the southern part of Mars.
Quite a long time ago, experts repeatedly analyzed the data after scanning Mars with the help of spacecraft and noticed that at the South Pole of the Red Planet, under a layer of snow and ice, there may be huge reservoirs filled with liquid water.
There are ice sheets on the South and North Poles of Mars. If we talk about their size, they are about the same as the Greenland ice sheet.
Part of the research shows that there may be reservoirs of water under a huge layer of ice, just like on our planet.
However, some scientists are sure that water on Mars can be exclusively in the form of ice, if we take into account the fact that the temperature at the poles of the planet drops to -364 degrees Celsius.
In their latest study, scientists used special space instruments to measure the shape of the surface of the ice sheet and establish the presence of certain patterns in it.
After that, a computer model was created. In some parts of the ice cap of the Red Planet, there are deviations in height.
This can be explained by the fact that there are lakes with liquid water under them, just like on Earth.
Experts note that water on Mars may not freeze due to the fact that geothermal activity is still present and therefore the temperature may be quite high under the icy surface.
“There are subglacial lakes on Mars, but it cannot be said that there is life in them.
The water is too salty even for microbes to live in it.
At the same time, it cannot be ruled out that there was life on the planet before, because the climate could be very different from what it is now,” says Francis Butcher from the University of Sheffield.
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