SINGAPORE: A study released on Monday using data from Nasa’s Mars InSight lander shows evidence of liquid water far below the surface of the fourth planet, advancing the search for life there and showing what might have happened to Mars’ ancient oceans.

The lander, which has been on the Red Planet since 2018, measured seismic data over four years, examining how quakes shook the ground and determining what materials or substances were beneath the surface.

Based on that data, the researchers found liquid water was most likely present deep beneath the lander. Water is considered essential for life, and geological studies show the planet’s surface had lakes, rivers and oceans more than 3 billion years ago.

“On Earth what we know is where it is wet enough and there are enough sources of energy, there is microbial life very deep in Earth’s subsurface,” said one of the authors, Vashan Wright of the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

“The ingredients for life as we know it exist in the Martian subsurface if these interpretations are correct.” The study found that large reservoirs of liquid water in fractures 11.5 kilometres to 20km beneath the surface best explained the InSight measurements.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2024