A recent study suggests that a significant amount of water might be trapped within the underground rocks beneath Mars’ surface, potentially forming an ocean. This discovery follows an analysis of seismic data collected by NASA’s Mars InSight lander, which operated until it ceased functioning in 2022.
The research, published on August 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, utilized seismic readings from the InSight lander, which detected over 1,300 marsquakes during its mission. By combining this seismic data with computer models, researchers determined that the most plausible explanation for the observed seismic activity is the presence of underground water.
The water is believed to be located in fractures 11.5 to 20 kilometers (7.15 to 12.4 miles) beneath the Martian surface. According to lead scientist Vashan Wright of the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, this water likely accumulated billions of years ago, during a time when Mars had rivers, lakes, and possibly oceans.
Wright noted that on Earth, microbial life exists deep within the planet’s subsurface where there is enough moisture and energy sources. “The ingredients for life as we know it exist in the Martian subsurface, if these interpretations are correct,” he added, hinting at the possibility of microbial life on Mars.
The study was co-authored by Matthias Morzfeld from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Michael Manga from the University of California, Berkeley.
The Mars InSight lander, officially known as the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport, was NASA’s first mission dedicated to exploring the interior of Mars. It was stationed at Elysium Planitia near the Martian equator.
If the conditions observed at InSight’s location are representative of the rest of Mars, Wright suggests that the underground water could be sufficient to fill a global ocean 1-2 kilometers (0.6-1.2 miles) deep.
However, confirming the presence of this water, as well as searching for signs of potential microbial life, would require drilling and further exploration with advanced equipment.
Mars, which was likely wet and capable of supporting water more than 3 billion years ago, is now a dry and dusty world. Scientists believe that much of its ancient water either escaped into space as the atmosphere thinned or remained buried beneath the surface, possibly still hidden in the planet’s subsurface today.
