Water On Mars: Three Lakes Hidden Under Mar's Icy Surface

A new study reports that many liquid bodies have been found under the south pole of the icy surface of the red planet. According to a paper published in Nature Astronomy on Monday, the existence of one saltwater lake, which was discovered two years ago by planetary scientists, has been confirmed by researchers, who have also identified three more lakes hidden under the surface of Mars.

Professor Pettinelli said that, "Not only did we confirm the position, extent and strength of the reflector from our 2018 study." She said in a statement that, “The main lake is surrounded by smaller bodies of liquid water, but because of the technical characteristics of the radar, and of its distance from the Martian surface, we cannot conclusively determine whether they are interconnected."

In 2018, Scientists had discovered a large lake below the surface of Mars, hailing it as a significant advance in the search for alien life on the earth. But the research was also challenged by experts who wondered whether the scientists had collected enough knowledge on the existence of the body to know for sure if it was a liquid water body.

In the new study, Roma Tre University researchers led by Elena Pettinelli used techniques borrowed from Earth satellites to study the lakes underneath Antarctic glaciers.

The team used a Mars Express radar instrument named the Mars Advanced Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) Radar to test the southern polar area of the earth.

The report says that the lakes are scattered over approximately 75,000 square kilometres, an area about one-fifth the size of Germany. "The largest central lake, 30 kilometres wide, is surrounded by three smaller lakes, several kilometres wide each."

A study says that, "It follows the detection of a single subsurface lake in the same region in 2018 which, if confirmed, would be the first body of liquid water ever detected on the red planet and a possible habitat for life. But that finding was based on just 29 observations made from 2012 to 2015."

Researchers found a large saltwater lake lurking under ice near the southern pole of Mars in 2018. The existence of the Martian lakes is a topic of debate among many scientists. Researchers raised questions about the lack of a sufficient heat source to convert the ice into water following the 2018 observation.