It was in 2018 when NASA made a big announcement that delighted us all. Liquid Lakes On Mars could exist beneath Mars’ ice cap at the south pole, according to an analysis of radio data. We believe this feature to be a stable body of liquid water on Mars,” the researchers said in their report. As the researchers explain in their work, “we want to see if the terrains on Mars today would be capable of producing powerful basal echoes if they were bury by a planet-wide ice sheet.”
“We discover that some current volcanic-related terrains have the potential to create a very high basal signal like that recorded at the South Polar Cap.” “Our study supports the argument against a singular explanation for the polar basal material’s nature that is only based on liquid water,” the researchers continue.
Water Signals Liquid Lakes On Mars
Several scientific devices have placed on and around Liquid Lakes On Mars by researchers. Researchers in Italy have created MARSIS, a low-frequency radar. It is possible to get information about the Red Planet’s surface and subsurface using MARSIS’ radar beams, which can cut through the ice (and certain rocks).
A little amount of energy is reflect when radar signals hit a different surface (such as rocks or ice). However, the outcomes could not always be evident based on this information. If a “shiny” spot near the frozen south pole of Mars (a region that is highly reflective to radar data) is indeed a subterranean lake, the 2018 research found that it lies 1.4 kilometers (0.87 miles) beneath the surface.
It would be revolutionary if this were to be true. And a network of similar lakes were to established on Mars. Even if there is life on Mars, this would be a huge boon for a human settlement on the red planet. However, this view has its share of skeptics from the start.
These locations are just too cold to support liquid water, according to lab research in 2019. It could even be salty liquid water. The authors, on the other hand, hypothesized that the reflecting patch is made of clay. Both of these claims are false, according to new research. The patches are volcanic rocks.
A Song Of Water And Rocks
Astronomer and Texas Institute for Geophysics Cyril Grima conducted a new study. It employs an inventive approach to explain why the reflecting patch was there. Imagine what you would see if, like the South Pole, you could “cover” all of Liquid Lakes On Mars with an ice sheet? To put it another way, would we find another one like it if we recreated the conditions that led to its discovery all across the planet? ‘Yes’ was the final answer.
On Mars, scientists discovered a smattering of reflecting areas. When these patches were compare to a geological map of Mars, the scientists discovered that they closely resembled the shape of volcanic rocks.
“While Grima’s discovery disproves the notion that there is liquid water beneath the planet’s south pole today. It also provides us with extremely precise locations to search for. For example, evidence of riverbeds, and ancient lakes, and test hypotheses about the planet’s climate drying out more than billions of years,” says Ian Smith, a planetary scientist of York University in Canada, who led the frozen clay study. “I think the beauty of Grima’s finding is that it disproves the notion that there is liquid water.
Volcanic rocks, like clay and water, are reflective, thus this theory makes sense. Mars also contains a lot of volcanic rocks. It is possible that such an area could exist around the south pole, which hasn’t discovered yet by scientists.
“According to Smith, who graduated from the University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences. Science isn’t always infallible the first time around. This is particularly true in planetary research. Thus we are looking at regions that have never visited and depending on sensors that can detect everything remotely.”
In the end, even though this new study implies that the reflective spots are volcanic rocks. The final word could still be out on the matter. If they are volcanic clay, rocks, or anything else, it is not apparent what they are. In the opinion of Isaac Smith, a geophysicist who was not engage in either research. This is an excellent illustration of how science should conduct. Future expeditions and investigations should be able to provide further information about what is under the Martian ice.