2023 Author: Bryan Walter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 22:24
Landforms on the Utopia Plain that indicated the existence of a glacier, as seen by the artist
Geophysicists from Canada and the United States have discovered a frozen near-surface lake on Mars. The volume of water in it is not inferior to the volume of water in the Upper Lake - the largest fresh water body in the world in terms of area, which is located in North America and belongs to the Great Lakes system. The results of the researchers' work are published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Scientists have repeatedly stated that in the past, Mars could have stored huge reserves of liquid water. This theory is supported by the observed traces of processes occurring on the planet, such as tsunamis. Recent studies show that systems of streams, lakes and small rivers existed until the Amazonian era, which began 3 billion years ago and continues to this day. Moreover, last year, NASA experts said that liquid water may be present on modern Mars. In their opinion, it is she who is responsible for the formation of dark stripes on the surface of the planet, which appear and disappear with the change of seasons.
However, the conditions on modern Mars are poorly suited for the existence of condensed water on the surface. For example, because of the rarefied atmosphere, liquid water boils away at temperatures above 10 degrees Celsius, while the Sun heats the planet's equator to 20-24 degrees Celsius during the day. In addition, the average temperature on the Red Planet is much lower than Earth's - about -40 degrees Celsius.
Recent research by scientists is aimed at finding water (liquid and frozen) in the near-surface layer of the planet - for example, this is one of the tasks of the TGO probe, which recently entered orbit around Mars.
The authors of the new work managed to find traces of its existence under the Utopia plain. Geophysicists have noticed that the surface of the plain is covered with cracks and depressions, which are similar to the landforms observed in northern Canada. This surface structure usually indicates the existence of underground ice, so the authors of the work suggested that somewhere under the Utopia Plain, ice reserves may also be hidden. The researchers tested their hypothesis using the SHARAD radar on board the Mars Reconaissance Orbiter, which allows you to "peer" at a depth of up to a kilometer and determine the presence of ice or liquid water in the near-surface layer.
Scientists actually managed to find a giant glacier in the western part of Utopia, located at a depth of 1-10 meters below the surface of the planet. Its thickness varies from 80 to 170 meters, and its total volume is estimated at 14, 3 thousand cubic kilometers. Geophysicists estimate that the underground ice lake is 50-85 percent water ice, the rest is dust mixed with rocky particles.
This glacier, according to the authors of the work, was able to survive on modern Mars and not evaporate due to the surrounding soil layer. Scientists speculate that the frozen lake was formed in the distant past, when the axis of Mars was tilted more than it is today. The fact that it is located in the area of the Utopia Plain makes it more accessible for study than other known deposits of water ice - this place is located in the middle latitudes and the surface there is quite flat.
Research shows that water can also exist on other planets in the solar system. For example, scientists recently came to the conclusion that on Pluto, under the ice of the Sputnik plain, an entire ocean of semi-frozen water may be hiding. In addition, subsurface oceans presumably exist on planetary satellites (Enceladus, Dione, Titan).
