A network of salty ponds may be gurgling beneath Mars' South Pole alongside a large underground lake, raising the prospect of tiny, swimming Martian life.
Italian scientists reported their findings today, two years after identifying what they believed to be a large buried lake. They widened their coverage area by about 320km, using even more data from a radar sounder on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter.
In the latest study appearing in the journal Nature Astronomy, the scientists provide further evidence of this salty underground lake, estimated to be 20km to 30km across and buried 1.5km beneath the icy surface.
Even more tantalising, they've also identified three smaller bodies of water surrounding the lake. These ponds appear to be of various sizes and are separate from the main lake.