Exciting new evidence suggests there might be liquid water deep beneath the surface of Mars. This finding comes from a thorough analysis of seismic data collected by NASA’s InSight lander.
In 2024, researchers proposed a bold idea: liquid water could exist between 7.1 and 12.4 miles (11.5 to 20 kilometers) below Mars’s surface. They based their claims on how seismic waves behave during marsquakes. Now, scientists Ikuo Katayama and Yuya Akamatsu from Japan have further supported this idea. Katayama pointed out that while many believe Mars once had water billions of years ago, their model indicates it’s still there today.
The InSight mission, which lasted from 2018 to 2022, featured the SEIS (Seismic Experiment for the Interior Structure) instrument—Mars’s first operational seismometer. This instrument detected three types of seismic waves from marsquakes: P-waves, S-waves, and surface waves. P-waves move back and forth like sound waves, while S-waves move up and down. Essentially, P-waves travel faster than S-waves and can move through both solid rock and water. S-waves, however, can’t travel through liquid.
Katayama and Akamatsu focused on specific areas in the seismic data where they noticed sudden shifts in the planet’s interior structure at depths of 6.2 to 12.4 miles (10 to 20 kilometers). Previous geophysicists believed these shifts were just transitions from volcanic materials to solid rock. However, the new research indicates that these areas might actually contain liquid water filling cracks in the porous rock.
To validate their findings, the researchers studied diabase rocks—a type of igneous rock similar to some Martian rocks. Their experiments showed that these wet rocks produced seismic signals like those detected by InSight, suggesting the presence of water.
Notably, earlier estimates suggested that there might be enough liquid water hidden below the surface to form an ocean between 0.62 and 1.24 miles (1 to 2 kilometers) deep. If these findings are confirmed, they might point to the possibility of microbial life existing in those depths, according to Katayama.
However, with our current technology, we can’t reach that water or any potential life forms that may reside there. Until we develop better tools, the mysteries of Mars, including its hidden water, will continue to intrigue scientists.
The research by Katayama and Akamatsu is detailed in the journal Geology.
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