There’s A Secret Ocean On Mars That Might Harbor Life, But It’s At Least Seven Miles Below The Outer Crust
Beneath the surface of Mars, a large hidden ocean that could harbor life was discovered. Scientists used seismic data collected by NASA’s InSight lander to locate the underground reservoir, which contains enough liquid to cover the surface of the entire planet to a depth of about a mile.
Oceans disappeared over three billion years ago on Mars, so the new discovery is exciting. Unfortunately, the reservoir is far too deep to access for research, as it lies seven to 13 miles below the outer crust. Even on Earth, it is a challenge to drill a hole one mile deep.
If humans can reach the underground reservoir one day, they might find life there. Being able to study the reservoir could help scientists understand more about the geological history of the Red Planet.
“Water is necessary for life as we know it,” said Michael Manga, a co-author of the study and a professor of earth and planetary science at UC Berkeley.
“I don’t see why [the underground reservoir] is not a habitable environment. It’s certainly true on Earth—deep, deep mines host life, the bottom of the ocean hosts life.”
So far, no evidence of life on Mars has been detected, but the massive hidden ocean holds much potential.
Long ago, other bodies of water existed on the planet. For instance, there are traces of dried-up river channels, lake beds, and deltas across Mars’ surface.
Yet, around 3.5 million years ago, something caused all the water on the planet’s surface to disappear suddenly.
It is unclear what led to the abrupt change, but scientists have suggested that an asteroid collision, the loss of the planet’s magnetic field, or ancient microbial life causing climate change could be the culprit.
alones – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
To figure out what happened to all the water, the researchers of the study took seismic data from NASA’s InSight lander and fed it into a mathematical model.
From 2018 to 2022, the lander studied the interior activity of Mars. Its sensors allowed it to record quakes that reached up to magnitude five from meteor impacts or volcanic activity. The model they used was similar to the ones on Earth that map aquifers and oil deposits underground.
“The mission greatly exceeded my expectations,” Manga said. “From looking at all the seismic data that Insight collected, they’ve figured out the thickness of the crust, the depth of the core, the composition of the core, even a little about the temperature within the mantle.”
Their investigations of the deeper crust revealed that it was made up of fragmented igneous rock that contains enough liquid water to fill Martian oceans.
This means that the water on Mars did not evaporate into space. Instead, it trickled down into the planet’s crust, creating a secret ocean.
The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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