Geophysicists disprove the existence of liquid water on Mars

Miscellaneous / by admin / January 25, 2022

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The ocean at the South Pole turned out to be a mirage.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin reanalyzed The Basal Detectability of an Ice-Covered Mars by MARSIS data obtained by the MARSIS radar aboard the Mars Express interplanetary station in 2018. They found that the possible traces of water on the planet are actually a reflection of the radar from the volcanic rock.

The south pole of Mars is indeed covered in ice. It alternates with volcanic plains, which are found in other parts of the planet.

New study co-author Cyril Grima has created a computer model of Mars covered in ice and the MARSIS radar. The data received from the virtual radar showed the volcanic plains as if these areas were filled with liquid water.

Such patterns were observed not only at the South Pole, but also in other parts of Mars, and their location corresponded to volcanic plains. But when a solid ice sheet was added to the model, these mirages disappeared.

Grima and colleagues suggest that the reflectivity of layered sediments near the South Pole of Mars is stronger than that of the hard basalt rocks that form the basis of the Platen surface. Probing the depths, the MARSIS radar received bright reflections similar to the surface of liquid water, but in fact it is a special type of rock in which up to 10% of ice is present.

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Such deposits cover approximately 0.2-0.3% of the surface of Mars. On Earth, rocks formed from iron-rich lava flows can create a similar effect.

Geophysicist added:

In order for water to maintain its state so close to the surface, you need a very salty environment and a strong local heat source, but this does not correspond to what we know about this region.

Cyril Grima

Planetary scientist, University of Texas Institute of Geophysics, Austin, USA

Researcher Isaac Smith compared the radar footprints of the volcanic plains on Mars to clay that was formed as a result of rock erosion in water. He emphasized:

The beauty of Cyril Grima's find is that while it refutes the idea that liquid water exists under the planet's south pole, it also gives us really accurate places to look for traces of ancient lakes and riverbeds and the possibility of testing the hypothesis of a large-scale drying of the climate of Mars for billions years.

Isaac Smith

Geophysicist of Mars, York University, Toronto, Canada