Brine-Ice Mixtures Exist beneath Martian South Polar Cap: Study planetaryscience space science
under the ice in Ultimi Scopuli, a region near the south pole of Mars. In new research, a team of researchers from Italy, the United States and Australia measured the properties of ice-brine mixtures as cold as minus 98 degrees Celsius to help confirm that salty water likely exists between grains of ice or sediment in Ultimi Scopuli.. studied the antifreeze properties of exotic salts that exist on Mars. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / USGS / SwRI.
Because conventional models assume the south polar cap of Mars experiences temperatures much lower than the melting point of water, planetary scientists have questioned the presence of liquid water. “Lakes of liquid water actually exist beneath glaciers in Arctic and Antarctic regions, so we have Earth analogs for finding liquid water below ice,” Dr. Stillman said.
“This is similar to how seawater saturates grains of sand at the shoreline or how flavoring permeates a slushie, but at minus 75 degrees Celsius below a mile of ice near the south pole of Mars.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Bacteria survive extremes that may have existed in ancient Mars lakesBacteria have been found surviving in the extreme conditions of a crater lake in an active volcano in Costa Rica, which may mimic conditions of ancient lakes on Mars
Read more »
Mysterious bright spots fuel debate over whether Mars holds liquid waterBright spots on Mars could be ice covering volcanic rock, which a team of researchers says explains unusual radio detections.
Read more »
More Evidence of Liquid Water Under the South Polar cap on Mars - Universe TodayThe underground lake at Mars south pole? It's probably not clay, and it's probably not lava, according to a new paper. But we need better data!
Read more »
Giant 'tree stump' impact crater spotted on MarsChelsea “Foxanne” Gohd joined Space.com in 2018 and is now a Senior Writer, writing about everything from climate change to planetary science and human spaceflight in both articles and on-camera in videos. With a degree in Public Health and biological sciences, Chelsea has written and worked for institutions including the American Museum of Natural History, Scientific American, Discover Magazine Blog, Astronomy Magazine and Live Science. When not writing, editing or filming something space-y, Chelsea 'Foxanne' Gohd is writing music and performing as Foxanne, even launching a song to space in 2021 with Inspiration4. You can follow her on Twitter chelsea_gohd and foxannemusic.
Read more »
This Extremely Toxic Lake Could Show Us How Life May Have Survived on MarsThe search for life on Mars is not an easy one. Not only is the red planet difficult to get to, it's deeply inhospitable to life as we know it.
Read more »