reflection from Europe ’s Mars Express missionary work have let on that an ancient system of interlink lakes was once present beneath the surface of Mars . Five of these ancient lake may contain minerals crucial to aliveness .
Models had predicted that solid groundwater must have be on Mars but this is the first time that the global web has been follow . Researchers have found evidence of ground upwelling in basins find in the planet ’s northerly hemisphere . The new study is published inThe Journal of Geophysical Research : planet .
“ other Mars was a watery world , but as the planet ’s climate convert this water back away below the surface to form pool and ‘ groundwater ’ , " chair source Francesco Salese , from Utrecht University in the Netherlands , said in astatement . " We trace this H2O in our study , as its musical scale and role is a matter of debate , and we find out the first geologic grounds of a planet - blanket groundwater arrangement on Mars . ”
The squad used observation of 24 deep crater and found feature that could only have formed in the presence of body of water . The team go out channel and valleys carved into the walls and floor of the crater , deltas and buff - determine sediment deposit , as well as ridged terraces . The water level present in these underground lakes is consistent with the shoreline expect for the immense ocean that once existed on Mars .
“ We call back that this ocean may have connected to a system of underground lakes that spread across the entire planet , ” added co - author Gian Gabriele Ori , director of D’Annunzio University ’s International Research School of Planetary Sciences . “ These lakes would have existed around 3.5 billion years ago , so may have been contemporaries of a Martian ocean . ”
In five out of the 24 craters , the team observe suggestion of clays , carbonate , and silicate . These mineral have been linked to the emergence of living on Earth , so perhaps they had the same effect on Mars . While their presence does n’t imply that life actually formed there , the lake organisation stay an significant location . Life , if it existed , might have strike underground and evidence of its existence might still be present below the surface .
Recently , Mars Express discovered the presence of anunderground lakenear the Red Planet ’s south pole . And it might not be the only one .
