Scientists detected a set of salty lakes on Mars, hidden under the glaciers of the south pole

Scientists have detected a series of saltwater lakes beneath glaciers in the southern ice sheet of Mars. The researchers believe that the liquid in these lakes does not freeze or solidify, despite the low temperatures of the glaciers on Mars, due to their extremely high concentrations of salt.

The Mars Express spacecraft, which has been surveying the planet since 2005, had previously detected signs of a subglacial lake basin at the south pole of Mars, but it was unclear whether the lake was liquid or what it contained.

The southern ice sheet of Mars, April 17, 2000.

To find out, a group of Italian, German and Australian researchers applied a radio echo technique used by terrestrial satellites to detect underground lakes in Antarctica. They scanned the area several times from 2010 to 2019, then published their results in the journal Nature Astronomy on Monday.

The analysis confirmed the liquid water nature of the underground lake on Mars, as well as its extreme salinity. In addition, the researchers say, they discovered “a more extensive and complex landscape with ubiquitous patches of water surrounding the subglacial lake.”

The discovery offers another possible habitat for life to persist on Mars.

Ancient life may have retired to the underground lakes

Scientists believe that the Martian surface was once rich in rivers, lakes and seas, but all the water on the surface evaporated when a stream of particles from the sun ripped the planet’s atmosphere. The strong magnetic field of the Earth, by contrast, has allowed it to retain its atmosphere and surface water.

On Mars, any microbial life that might have existed on the surface could have migrated underground as the water disappeared, perhaps to lakes like those below the south pole of the red planet.

In July, NASA launched its nuclear-powered Mars Perseverance rover, which is set to search for signs of ancient life on the planet’s surface and prepare Martian rock samples for a future mission that will return them to Earth. The rover is expected to land on Mars on February 18, 2021.

An artist’s illustration shows NASA’s Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter on Mars.

“Is there life out there? For 20 years we have learned about the environment of Mars and we are ready to ask that,” NASA Administrator Thomas Zurbuchen said during a broadcast of the rover launch. “For the first time in decades, [an] astrobiology mission? We are ready for it. “