Space & Astronomy

Large water ice glaciers discovered on Mars

By T.K. Randall
January 12, 2018 ·  0 comments

Large quantities of ice can be found just beneath the surface. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech By now the existence of water ice on the Red Planet is nothing new, but our understanding of exactly how much ice there actually is on Mars, as well as how it came to form there, is continuing to change.

This latest discovery was made after US Geological Survey geologist Colin Dundas spotted a pale blue band sticking out from the dust in images taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

It later turned out that what he had found was a large deposit of ice up to 330ft deep. Further investigations later revealed similar deposits at seven other sites across Mars.Scientists believe that these glaciers formed from snow that had fallen in the planet's distant past.

"These shallow depths make the ice sheets potentially accessible to future exploration, and the (cliffs) present cross-sections of these ices that record past episodes of ice deposition on Mars," they wrote.

In other words - humans who venture to Mars in the future will not only be able to study the composition of the ice but can also use it as a source of fuel and drinking water.

Source: CNET.com | Comments (0)

Tags: Mars, Glaciers, Ice