Huge buried glaciers of water ice found on Mars

By William Atkins
Friday, 21 November 2008 00:56

Science - Space

NASA announced that its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has found what is being called "vast Martian glaciers of water ice under protective blankets of rocky debris." NASA scientists call it the largest amount of water ice on Mars other than at the poles.


NASA’s November 20, 2008 media release “NASA spacecraft detects buried glaciers on Mars” discusses the analysis performed by planetary scientists based on data from the ground-penetrating radar onboard the MRO spacecraft that is orbiting the planet Mars.

NASA’s discovery is a first at finding massive amounts of water ice at latitudes much lower than at the polar caps of the Red Planet.

The summary of the scientists’ report is to be published in the November 21, 2008 issue of the journal Science.

NASA calls the discovery on Mars as “… similar to massive ice glaciers that have been detected under rocky coverings in Antarctica.”

Lead author of the Science article, U.S. geophysicist John “Jack” W. Holt (University of Texas, Austin), stated, “Altogether, these glaciers almost certainly represent the largest reservoir of water ice on Mars that is not in the polar caps.”

He added, “Just one of the features we examined is three times larger than the city of Los Angeles and up to half a mile thick. And there are many more. In addition to their scientific value, they could be a source of water to support future exploration of Mars."

The Holt team reported in the Science article that the buried water-ice glaciers are found in the Hellas Basin region of Mars, which is in its southern hemisphere.

Besides large water-ice deposits found underground in the southern hemisphere of Mars, another team of scientists have discovered similar water-ice deposits in the northern hemisphere. Please read on.