The scientists assume that, under the identified area, the glacier may have been partly preserved and that ice is therefore present at shallow depth.
American researchers announced Wednesday in a study having observed “the remains of a modern glacier” on the planet Mars. A key discovery for human exploration, because it “raises the possibility that ice still exists at shallow depth in the region” observed.
Scientists believe in the recent presence of a glacier in the area of the planet called “Noctis Labyrinthus”, near its equator, because they have spotted clear deposits there from space that show “many characteristics of a glacier”, explains a press release from the researchers.
Still ice under the surface?
“What we found was not ice, but a salt deposit with the detailed morphological characteristics of a glacier,” said planetary scientist Pascal Lee, lead author of the study, working for SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) and the Mars Institute.
This ancient glacier is regarding 6 kilometers long and up to 4 kilometers wide according to the authors’ measurements, “with a surface elevation ranging from +1.3 to +1.7 kilometers.”
The theory advanced by the researchers is that on this area of Mars, which has a history of volcanic activity, volcanic materials came into contact with the ice, which formed “a hardened layer of sulphate salts”. The big unknown now is whether ice has been preserved under this crust, or whether it has entirely disappeared.
“It is possible that all the water ice in the glacier has now sublimated (passing from the state of ice to that of gas, editor’s note). But there is also a chance that a part is still protected at low depth under the sulphate salts”, indicates Pascal Lee.
Possible “to extract water ice from the ground”?
The main advance of this discovery is the possibility of a new water reserve on this planet, where human explorations in the next decades are envisaged.
But it also changes the vision of this planet. Until then, it was a question, in the event of sending a human crew to Mars, of landing them “in a place where they might extract water ice from the ground”, or rather in the highest latitudes of the red planet. “Martian water ice is locked underground” in “regions near the poles”, thus explains NASA.
“But these latter environments are generally colder and more difficult for humans and robots,” explains Pascal Lee.
On Mars, “if there were equatorial places where ice might be found at shallow depths, then we would have the best of both environments: warmer conditions for human exploration and still access to ice,” points out he.
This discovery remains of course to be clarified, it is indeed necessary to determine if there really remains ice under the identified area and, if so, in what quantities.
