Roughly four billion years ago, Mars was warm and wet, like Earth. But the Red Planet eventually morphed into the barren, dry world it remains today.
The research team led by Roma Tre University's Sebastian Emanuel Lauro used a method similar to what's been used on Earth to detect buried lakes in the Antarctic and Canadian Arctic. They based their findings on more than 100 radar observations by Mars Express from 2010 to 2019; the spacecraft was launched in 2003.
All this potential water raises the possibility of microbial life on — or inside — Mars. High concentrations of salt are likely keeping the water from freezing at this frigid location, the scientists noted. The surface temperature at the South Pole is an estimated -113C, and gets gradually warmer with depth.
These bodies of water are potentially interesting biologically and "future missions to Mars should target this region," the researchers wrote.
- AP