Scientists have long expected to find liquid water on Mars, which will give hope of finding biological life on this planet. The most promising region for exploration is the South Pole of Mars, where water in the liquid phase can hide beneath the thick ice. New processing of old data has shown that in all physical models of geological processes on Mars, the probability of an underground lake is highest.
In a new article, an international group of scientists led by Neil Arnold, University of Cambridge, proves that there may be up to 30 km of subtidal lake in the South Pole of Mars.
The first evidence of the possibility of a subterranean lake in the region, which was called Ultimi Scopuli in many concessions, was given in 2018 by the European Space Agency Mars Express. Georadar scans showed that a certain area under the surface of Mars reflected a signal in the same way as if there were liquid water. This year another group of researchers showed that the signal used for reflecting water was not true.
But not only did the European satellite observe the region. Previously, the NASA Mars Global Surveyor probe took detailed images of the area under study. According to the probe, the surface of the area above the hypothetical ground lake on Mars repeats the nature of the surface above Lake East in Antarctica. Like on Earth, the ice on Mars above the "Oser" is of a wave-like nature, with successive waves of heights. Ice waves on the surface are formed in the course of the underground movement of liquid water, causing uneven downward pressure on the ice. At least this is happening on Earth.
On the basis of these data, scientists have undertaken new modelling of the topography of the observation area, taking into account the introduction of many variables, including modelling of subsurface friction that can be caused by either solid ice or water; different depths of the theoretical subsurface lake; and the amount of geothermal heat under the surface of Mars in recent geological history.
" said Arnold in a statement accompanying the publication of the study.