New study reveals massive water reservoir on Mars

(CN) – Scientists have discovered a vast underground reservoir of liquid water on Mars — one that may even contain enough water to cover the planet with oceans. But the water is buried so deep that it would be nearly impossible to reach, even with advanced technology.

That's the takeaway of a study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Led by researchers at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the study says the water is trapped in fractured igneous rock, which is similar to granite on Earth. While earlier research suggested that water ice might exist in Mars’ upper crust, these new findings show that more significant amounts of water are actually located deeper within the crust.

NASA’s InSight Lander collected critical data for scientists. It's the first outer space robotic explorer to study Mars' inner layers— that is, the planet's crust, mantle, and core. The lander recorded Mars quakes, meteor impacts, and volcanic events, providing valuable insights into the planet’s interior.

“The mission greatly exceeded my expectations,” Michael Manga, a professor of earth and planetary science at UC Berkeley, said in a press release announcing the findings. “From looking at all the seismic data that InSight collected, they’ve figured out the thickness of the crust, the depth of the core, the composition of the core, even a little bit about the temperature within the mantle.”

Researchers located the reservoir between 11.5 and 20 kilometers below the surface, within tiny cracks and pores in the rock.

While the finding shows the potential for life on Mars, accessing the reservoir remains a challenge. For now, the main upshot of the study is the valuable information it offers about the planet’s geological history.

“Understanding the Martian water cycle is critical for understanding the evolution of the climate, surface, and interior,” Vashan Wright, an assistant professor at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, likewise said in the press release. “A useful starting point is to identify where water is and how much is there.”

Notably, the study suggests that much of the planet’s ancient water did not evaporate into space but instead filtered down into the crust.

“Establishing that there is a big reservoir of liquid water provides some window into what the climate was like or could be like,” Manga stated. “Water is necessary for life as we know it. I don't see why [the underground reservoir] is not a habitable environment. It's certainly true on Earth — deep, deep mines host life, the bottom of the ocean hosts life.”

If the crust is similar across Mars, the reservoir could hold enough water to fill areas once thought to have contained ancient oceans on the Red Planet. “We haven’t found any evidence for life on Mars," Manga said, "but at least we have identified a place that should, in principle, be able to sustain life."

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