Mars Study Reveals Hidden Oceans: Water May Be Miles Beneath the Red Planet’s Surface

According to new research, Mars may have enough water beneath its surface to create a global sea.

Scientists released their findings on Monday. They are based upon seismic measurements taken by NASA’s Mars InSight Rover, which detected more than 1,300 marsquakes before its shutdown two years ago.

Water is thought to be hidden in cracks between rocks and could be 7 to 12 miles below the Martian crust.

Vashan Wright, a scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California San Diego, told The Associated Press that water could have leaked from the surface of Mars billions of years ago when it had rivers, lakes, and perhaps oceans.

Wright says that even though there may be water beneath the crust of Mars, this does not mean that it contains life.

In an email to the AP, he said that “our findings” meant that some environments could be habitable.

Wright’s team used Insight readings and computer models, as well as the speed of the earthquakes, to determine that underground water was most likely the cause.

The team’s findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Monday.

Wright said that if InSight’s location near Mars’ equator was representative of the entire planet, there would be sufficient water underground at a depth of around a mile to fill an ocean.

Scientists will need to find out how to drill deep enough to confirm that there is water and life on the planet.

Scientists believe that large amounts of water existed on Mars’ surface for over 3 billion years. The water is either believed to have drained into the ground, or been lost to space.

It is believed that the water also disappeared as the atmosphere of the planet thinned. This turned the planet into an arid and dusty planet.