Curiosity Discovers Evidence of Briny Water on the Surface of Mars

First Posted: May 05, 2015 10:34 AM EDT
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It turns out that Mars may possess briny water on its surface. NASA's Curiosity rover's data has indicated that water may exist under certain conditions.

The new findings are based on almost two years of weather data collected from an impact crater near the planet's equatorial region. The data revealed that under specific conditions, for a few hours per day, there could be the appropriate conditions to form liquid brines on the surface of Mars.

In fact, the existence of briny water may actually explain a phenomenon observed by Mars orbiters called "recurring slope lineae." These are dark streaks on slops that appear and grow during the planet's warm season.

While there may be water on Mars, though, it's unlikely that it supports life. Mars is cold, extremely dry and has 200 times lower atmospheric pressure than Earth. This means that any pure water on the surface would freeze or boil away in minutes. The extremely briny water, while allowing the water to exist, may be too harsh to allow life to exist.

"What we demonstrated is that under specific circumstances, for a few hours per day, you can have the right conditions to form liquid brines on the surface of Mars," said Vincent Chevrier, one of the researchers, in a news release. "If we combine observations with the thermodynamics of brine formation and the current knowledge about terrestrial organisms, is it possible to find a way for organisms to survive in Martian brines? My answer is no."

The findings reveal a bit more about the Martian surface and could actually support missions that could sample the brines directly in the future. While the brines may not support life, they do have implications for future manned missions that would need to create life-sustaining resources on the planet.

The findings are published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

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