British scientists say they’ve discovered proof which “gives the best indication yet that there is liquid water on Mars”.
Their examine is the primary impartial lead utilizing information, aside from radar, that such water lies beneath the purple planet’s south polar ice cap.
But the specialists have additionally cautioned that it “does not necessarily mean that life exists on Mars“.
As with the state of affairs on Earth, Mars has ice caps at each poles, which comprise a mixed quantity of water ice just like the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Earth’s ice sheets are underlain by water-filled channels and grand subglacial lakes.
And till now, it was believed that Mars’ sheets have been frozen right down to their beds due to the chilly local weather on the planet.
However the scientists stated their proof “makes it much more likely that at least one area of subglacial liquid water exists on Mars” and that the planet “must still be geothermally active in order to keep the water beneath the ice cap liquid”.
The worldwide staff, together with specialists from Cambridge University, Sheffield University, the Open University, Nantes University and University College Dublin, used spacecraft laser-altimeter measurements of the form of the ice cap’s higher floor to determine patterns in its peak.
They then confirmed that these patterns match pc mannequin predictions for a way water beneath the ice cap would have an effect on the floor.
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Dr Frances Butcher, from the University of Sheffield, stated: “This study gives the best indication yet that there is liquid water on Mars today because it means that two of the key pieces of evidence we would look for when searching for subglacial lakes on Earth have now been found on Mars.
“Liquid water is an important ingredient for all times, though it doesn’t essentially imply that life exists on Mars.”
Dr Butcher added: “In order to be liquid at such cold temperatures, the water beneath the south pole might need to be really salty, which would make it difficult for any microbial life to inhabit it.
“However, it does give hope that there have been extra liveable environments up to now when the local weather was much less unforgiving.”
Professor Neil Arnold, from Cambridge’s Scott Polar Research Institute, said: “The mixture of the brand new topographic proof, our pc mannequin outcomes and the radar information make it more likely that at the least one space of subglacial liquid water exists on Mars in the present day, and that Mars should nonetheless be geothermally energetic with a view to maintain the water beneath the ice cap liquid.”
The outcomes have been reported within the journal Nature Astronomy.
Source: information.sky.com”