Evidence Of Deep Groundwater On Mars
EVIDENCE OF DEEP GROUNDWATER ON MARS
There’s new evidence of underground rivers and streams of water flowing underneath the surface of Mars.The Researchers at the USC Arid Climate and Water Research Center (AWARE) have published a study that suggests deep groundwater could still be active on Mars and could originate surface streams in some near-equatorial areas on Mars.
The researchers at USC have determined that groundwater likely exists in a broader geographical area than just the poles of Mars and that there is an active system, as deep as 750 meters, from which groundwater comes to the surface through cracks in the specific craters they analyzed.
Heggy, who is a member of the Mars Express Sounding radar experiment MARSIS probing Mars subsurface, and co-author Abotalib Z. Abotalib, a postdoctoral research associate at USC, studied the characteristics of Mars Recurrent Slope Linea, which are akin to dried, short streams of water that appear on some crater walls on Mars.
The two scientists concluded that fractures within some of Mars' craters, enabled water springs to rise up to the surface as a result of pressure deep below. These springs leaked onto the surface, generating the sharp and distinct linear features found on the walls of these craters. The scientists also provide an explanation on how these water features fluctuate with seasonality on Mars.
The study, published on March 28, in Nature Geoscience, suggests that groundwater might be deeper than previously thought in areas where such streams are observed on Mars. The findings suggest that the exposed part of these ground fractures associated with these springs as the primary location candidates to explore Mars' habitability. Their work suggests that new probing methods should be developed to study these fractures.
Previous research to explore groundwater on Mars relied on interpreting the returned electromagnetic echoes sent from the radar-probing experiments from orbit onboard Mars Express and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. These experiments measured the reflection of the waves from both the surface and the subsurface whenever penetration was possible. However, this earlier method did not yet provide evidence of groundwater occurrence beyond the 2018 South Pole detection.
Heggy and Abotalib, who have long studied subsurface aquifers and groundwater flow movement on Earth and in desert environments, found similarities between the groundwater moving mechanisms in the Sahara and on Mars."Groundwater is strong evidence for the past similarity between Mars and Earth—it suggest they have a similar evolution, to some extent.
The new study suggests that the groundwater that is the source of these water flows could be at depths starting at 750 meters deep. "Such depth requires us to consider more deep-probing techniques to look for the source of this groundwater versus looking for shallow sources of water.
The prospects for future colonization of Mars as a result of this and recent discoveries, increases dramatically. SpaceX hopes to send first manned mission to Mars as early as 2024, this is optimistic scenario, but with discovery of flowing water makes things a lot easier for future astronauts and Martian colonist.