Deep Liquid Water Reservoirs Found on Mars, Potentially Enough to Cover the Entire Planet's Surface | WPN World People News

NASA’s Mars lander, InSight, has found evidence of a potentially vast reservoir of liquid water deep beneath Mars' surface, with a volume large enough to form an ocean covering the entire planet. These liquid water reservoirs may offer conditions suitable for microbial life. Although current technology struggles to reach such depths, this discovery provides significant direction for future Mars exploration. The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Although the InSight mission ended in 2022, scientists have analyzed seismic data collected during the mission. They hypothesize that these liquid water reservoirs may lie about 11.5 to 20 kilometers below Mars' surface. The water is thought to be stored within fractures in igneous rock formations, possibly connected to ancient rivers, lakes, or even oceans that existed on Mars billions of years ago.

The research was led by planetary scientists Vashan Wright from the University of California, San Diego, and Michael Manga from the University of California, Berkeley. According to their analysis, if the reservoirs extend across Mars, they could fill a global ocean 1 to 2 kilometers deep. However, more research and exploration are needed to confirm the existence of this water and to investigate whether it can support life.

Studies have shown that early Mars had abundant water, but over time, much of it either escaped into space or seeped into the crust as the atmosphere thinned. This discovery not only deepens our understanding of Mars' geological history but also provides new clues in the search for possible life on Mars.

In the future, extracting water from these deep reservoirs will be a significant challenge. Scientists believe that identifying areas where geological activity might be releasing water to the surface, such as the Cerberus Fossae in Mars’ northern hemisphere, could be another promising target for exploration. This new discovery opens up exciting possibilities for future Mars exploration and its potential resources.