A group of scientists has just published new research showing that the Martian subsurface may contain enormous amounts of groundwater, potentially creating oceans on the planet's surface, according to CNN. The study was published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on August 12.
Mars was photographed by the Hubble telescope in 2016.
The study used data obtained from the seismometer of NASA's InSight lander during its mission from 2018-2022. Over four years, the instrument measured seismic data on Mars and identified material beneath the surface of the planet next to Earth.
According to the study, there is a large amount of groundwater beneath the cracks and fissures in the Martian crust. This crust is at a depth of 11.5-20 km. The research team believes that the amount of water below is so large that it could cover the entire planet of Mars to a depth of up to 1.6 km.
Illustrating the depth of groundwater inside Mars and the InSight spacecraft.
PHOTO: Scripps Institution of Oceanography /CNN
After much research, scientists believe that Mars was once a warm and humid planet billions of years ago. Numerous missions have been developed to understand the history of water on the red planet and whether it ever created a habitable environment there.
While water is frozen at the planet's poles, researchers don't believe that all the water on Mars is frozen. Many theories have been put forward about traces of water that have disappeared, and according to new research, that water has been drawn down to the planet's lower crust.
NASA's seismometer, photographed by the InSight spacecraft in December 2022.
PHOTO: REUTERS/NASA/JPL-Caltech
"On Earth, what we know is that wherever there is enough moisture and enough energy, there will be microbial life very deep beneath the Earth's surface. The elements for life as we know it exist beneath the surface of Mars if these interpretations are correct," said geophysicist Vashan Wright at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, one of the study's authors.
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Source: https://thanhnien.vn/duoi-sao-hoa-chua-ca-dai-duong-nuoc-ngam-185240813102912623.htm
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