Seismic Shifts Reveal Hidden Water Reservoirs on Mars
There is growing evidence that a great secret lies beneath the dusty red expanses of Mars. A secret that could completely redefine our view of our closest neighbor – a massive reservoir of liquid water buried deep beneath the surface.
Mars is covered with traces of once vast water flows. But the puzzle of where all that water went when the planet cooled and became desolate is still incomplete, writes RTS, as reported by Sombor.info.
A new study offers a potential answer. Using seismic data from NASA's "InSight" mission, evidence was found showing that seismic waves slow down in a layer between 5.4 and eight kilometers below the surface, which could indicate the presence of liquid water at those depths.
Where did all the water go?
Mars wasn’t always the barren land it is today. Billions of years ago, rivers carved valleys, and lakes and seas shimmered under the sun’s rays.
As Mars' magnetic field weakened and the atmosphere thinned, much of the water disappeared – some into space, some froze in the polar caps, and some remained trapped in minerals to this day.
However, evaporation, freezing, and entrapment in rocks cannot explain the full amount of water that once existed on the Red Planet. Calculations suggest that the "missing" water is enough to cover the planet with an ocean between 700 and 900 meters deep.
One hypothesis is that the water drained deeper into the crust. In its past, Mars endured heavy meteorite bombardments, which could have created cracks through which the water escaped.
Deep beneath the surface, higher temperatures than at the surface could maintain the water in a liquid state.
Seismic Image of the Martian Crust
NASA’s "InSight" lander touched down on Mars in 2018 to listen to the planet’s interior using an ultra-sensitive seismometer.
By studying a specific type of vibration, scientists discovered a significant underground anomaly – a layer between 5.4 and eight kilometers deep where vibrations moved more slowly.
This slower wave propagation layer is most likely highly porous rock filled with liquid water, similar to a very wet sponge. Something akin to Earth’s aquifers.
They calculated that this Martian aquifer could contain enough water to cover the planet in a global ocean 520 to 780 meters deep – several times more water than is found in the ice of Antarctica.
This volume matches estimates of Mars' "missing" water (710 to 920 meters of global ocean depth), after accounting for losses due to evaporation, freezing, and water trapped in minerals.
Meteorites and Marsquakes
Scientists made this discovery with the help of two meteorite impacts in 2021 and one quake in 2022. These events sent seismic waves through the crust, similar to when a stone falls into water.
The seismometer on the "InSight" mission registered these vibrations and used them to map hidden layers in the planetary crust.
Why This Matters
Liquid water is essential for life as we know it. On Earth, numerous microbes thrive and live in it.
Could similar forms of life – remnants of an ancient Martian ecosystem – survive in such underground reservoirs?
Water could also support higher and more complex forms of life – such as future human explorers. Once processed, it could provide drinking water, oxygen, and even rocket fuel.
Of course, drilling kilometers deep on another planet is a major challenge. However, other data reveals the possibility that closer to Mars’ equator, near the surface, there are more water-rich zones – such as a frozen mud reservoir in the Utopia Planitia region.
