Scientists Discover More Evidence for Groundwater on Mars

Scientists may have found more evidence for water on Mars. Researchers have investigated he Equatorial Layered Deposits (ELDs) of Arabia Terra in Firsoff crater area in order to understand their formation and potential habitability.

From investigations from the Mars rover Curiosity and other machines, researchers know that Mars once held water. In fact, scientists recently discovered an ancient lake system on the Red Planet that was wet during two different periods during the planet's history. The lake today is just a crater on the Martian landscape, but fan deposits in channels full of clay minerals indicate a watery past.

On the plateau, ELDs consist of rare mounds, flat-lying deposits and cross-bedded dune fields. In this latest study, the researchers interpreted the mounds as smaller spring deposits, the flat-lying deposits as playa and the cross-bedded dune fields as aeolian. In the end, they found that groundwater fluctuations appear to be the major factor controlling ELD deposition. In addition, the ELDs inside the craters would likely have originated from fluid upwelling through the fissure ridges and the mounds, and that led to the evaporation of precipitation. In addition, the presence of spring and playa deposits hint to the possible presence of a hydrological cycle, driving groundwater upwelling on Mars at surface temperatures above freezing.

What's truly interesting is that these conditions on earth would have been conducive for microbial colonization.

The findings reveal a bit more about the history of Mars. Not only that, but they show that it's possible that life may have once existed on the Red Planet.

The findings are published in the journal Geological Society of the American Bulletin.

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