Experts Say They’ve Discovered Liquid Water Hidden Beneath the Surface of Mars
Astronomers have been on the hunt for liquid water on Mars for years, only finding it in the form of ice. However, experts now say that while they haven’t discovered massive sources of liquid H2O on the surface, below the Martian crust there might be oceans of the stuff.
Transcript
00:00Astronomers have been on the hunt for liquid water on Mars for years, only finding it in
00:08the form of ice.
00:09However, experts now say that while they haven't discovered massive sources of liquid H2O on
00:14the surface, below the Martian crust there might be oceans of the stuff.
00:18When a planet loses as much of its atmosphere as Mars has, water more easily evaporates
00:22out into space.
00:23However, if Martian surface water seeped down into the planet instead, it could very well
00:28still be down there.
00:29This theory is the result of new seismic data captured by NASA's InSight lander, data
00:34which points to huge deposits of liquid deep down below the surface.
00:38InSight is able to figure out what materials are under the surface by tracking Martian
00:41seismic activity, as seismic waves moving through different materials produce different
00:46data, finding that around 7.1 to 12.4 miles under the surface of Mars, between fractured
00:51rock lies layers of liquid water.
00:54The researchers say that understanding the Martian water cycle is critical for understanding
00:58the evolution of the climate, surface, and interior.
01:01However, they add that finding liquid water deep under the surface of Mars might also
01:05lead them to something else we've been searching for out in the cosmos, extraterrestrial life.