Liquid water in the Martian mid-crust.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
; 121(35): e2409983121, 2024 Aug 27.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39133865
ABSTRACT
Large volumes of liquid water transiently existed on the surface of Mars more than 3 billion years ago. Much of this water is hypothesized to have been sequestered in the subsurface or lost to space. We use rock physics models and Bayesian inversion to identify combinations of lithology, liquid water saturation, porosity, and pore shape consistent with the constrained mid-crust (â¼11.5 to 20 km depths) seismic velocities and gravity near the InSight lander. A mid-crust composed of fractured igneous rocks saturated with liquid water best explains the existing data. Our results have implications for understanding Mars' water cycle, determining the fates of past surface water, searching for past or extant life, and assessing in situ resource utilization for future missions.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Country of publication:
United States