UT scientists find ice under Mars; Deposit holds as much water as Lake Superior
Source: Houston Chronicle
Frozen underneath Mars' red soil lies a massive deposit of ice containing as much water as Lake Superior and spanning an area the size of the state of New Mexico.
Scientists led by The University of Texas at Austin made the discovery, inching geophysicists closer to fully solving the question that has puzzled them for years: Where did Mars' water go?
"We know early Mars had enough liquid water on the surface for rivers and lakes," said Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Deputy Project Scientist Lesie Tamppari in a prepared statement. "Much of it left the planet from the top of the atmosphere. Other missions have been examining that process. But there's also a large quantity that is now underground ice, and we want to keep learning more about that."
Found in a region called Utopia Planitia, or "plains of paradise," this latest ice deposit discovery is one such example. According to NASA, it's shielded by a layer of Martian dirt that is an estimated 3 to 33 feet thick, which seems shallow enough for an astronaut to take a stab at uncovering it with a shovel - an idea that isn't so far-fetched.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/science-environment/article/UT-scientists-find-ice-under-Mars-holds-as-much-10632469.php
= new reply since forum marked as read
