Washington Examiner
Mars‘s crusty interior may harbor massive reservoirs of water, enough to fill an ocean, according to a recent study of seismic data.
Scientists have long though that Mars’s surface was once covered by water, most likely stretching across at least one third of the terrain in a massive northern ocean. But the water dried up a millennia ago, and those studying the red planet have debated whether the water simply evaporated due to the planet’s size or was absorbed beneath the surface to be held in vast underground reservoirs.
A study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests the latter after an analysis of seismic data showed that the speed of waves traveling through the planet’s crust indicates similar reservoirs to ones that can be found below the Earth’s surface, according to Reuters. Scientists have also debated whether such water would be frozen or whether Mars’s active crust would keep the water warm enough to be liquid. The study suggests the latter.
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