New doubts about sensational discovery: but no liquid water at Mars’ south pole?

New doubts arise about the surprising discovery of potential lakes beneath the surface of Mars. According to a current research work, the measurement results can also be explained in a certain staggering manner of ice and rock layers, this would not require liquid water. Now presented to three planetary scientists from Cornell University. Using computer simulations, the team was able to show that the detected reflections could simply be due to interference between geological layers.

Found reflection without liquid water

Their work, along with other recent work, has reinforced doubts about the 2018 report’s discovery of liquid water beneath the surface of Mars, explain to researchers, Indeed, it was previously believed that it was too cold for liquid water everywhere on Mars. But the images detected by the radar of ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft were present and needed an explanation, says study leader Dan Lalich. So he and his team simulated radar reflections from different layers of the atmosphere, water and carbon dioxide ice, and basalt.

They found that how the layers are composed is less important for the strength of the reflections than their strength and distance from each other. “We have shown that it is possible to create bright reflections without liquid water,” explains Lalich. Their work does not refute the possible existence of liquid water, but the new hypothesis fits the observations better. Planetary researchers consider the possibility that only on-site drilling can provide a definitive answer. research work was published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Whether there is (liquid) water on Mars is one of the most important findings of current planetary research. Several probes and rovers are gathering data in the field to answer them. Until now, it is generally accepted that liquid water once existed on the Red Planet, but doubts have arisen. After the spectacular discovery of Mars Express in 2018, there was also a possibility that there was still liquid water there. Further research had already raised doubts about this, but there was also work that supported the interpretation of the data.

(MHO)