WASHINGTON: Huge deposits of pure frozen water have been found under the southern pole of Mars following a probe by the European spacecraft Mars Express, according to a study released here on Thursday.

“While the precise composition of the deposits is unknown, it is believed they are predominantly water ice and that they represent the largest known reservoir of H2O on the planet,” said the study, in the March 15 edition of Science magazine.

Researchers used signals sent by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface Ionospheric Sounding (Marsis), which penetrated some 3.7 kilometres below the planet's surface, to make their calculations.

“We apply a technique commonly used to study the interior of ice sheets and glaciers on Earth, radar echo sounding, to study the south pole layered deposits of Mars,” added the study.

If the ice was to melt completely it would cover the entire Red Planet to a depth of 11 metres, the scientists revealed.-—AFP