There could be more water on Mars than initially expected. CNN reports that the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has discovered evidence of “significant amounts of water” in the Valles Marineris, which is the red planet’s equivalent to the Grand Canyon, albeit on a much grander scale.
NASA says Valles Marineris is roughly 2,500 miles long—which means it “is as long as the United States and it spans about 20 percent (1/5) of the entire distance around Mars!”—and can reach depths up to four miles. The Grand Canyon is 500 miles long and 1 mile deep at most.
The discovery of “significant amounts of water” in the Valles Marineris comes as a surprise because most water on Mars has been found in ice caps at its poles. The Valles Marineris runs along the Martian equator, where it’s usually too warm for water to freeze.
Yet CNN reports that the Fine Resolution Epithermal Neutron Detector (FREND) aboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter detected evidence of water in the Valles Marineris “between May 2018 to February 2021.” The discovery was revealed in a paper published by Icarus on Dec. 15.
FREND principal investigator and study co-author Igor Mitrofanov said in a statement to CNN that “FREND revealed an area with an unusually large amount of hydrogen in the colossal Valles Marineris canyon system: assuming the hydrogen we see is bound into water molecules, as much as 40% of the near-surface material in this region appears to be water.”
Mitrofanov compared the area to “Earth’s permafrost regions, where water ice permanently persists under dry soil because of the constant low temperatures.” The paper’s abstract says this “is probably associated with particular geomorphological conditions inside Valles Marineris.”
NASA breaks down the importance of searching for water on Mars via its Space Place website, where it says that it’s hoping to learn more about the planet’s climate, better understand its geology, determine if there was ever life on Mars, and prepare for manned expeditions.
