Near the equator, 6 km long and 4 km wide, lies the great discovery on Mars. It is the remains of a glacier, suggesting that a form of water still exists in an area on the Red Planet.
Scientists detected the remains of mineral deposits near the equatorial region of Mars, containing light-colored sulfate salts, and the discovered ice block no longer exists.
The scientists identified features of the glacier, including ridges deposited or pushed by a moving glacier.
The research team also discovered fault fields, or deep wedge-shaped openings, of the kind that form inside glaciers.
The results were shared last Wednesday at the 54th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Woodlands, Texas, USA.
Study senior author Pascal Lee, a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute and the Mars Institute, said in a statement: What we found is not ice, but rather salt deposits with detailed morphological features of a glacier, according to Sky News.
What we think happened here is that the salt formed on top of a glacier while maintaining the shape of the ice below, down to details like fault fields and moraine strips.
Researchers believe that the glacier was 6 kilometers long and about 4 kilometers wide.
The researchers are now seeking to determine whether there is any ice left from the glacier, and if so, how much is present at the shallow depths beneath the salt deposits.
If these salt deposits protect the ice, other pockets of ice are likely in the vicinity.
Orbits around the planet showed deposits of ice at the frigid poles of Mars, but if water in any form is present at warmer low equatorial latitudes, it may have implications for our understanding of the Red Planet’s history, habitability, and the possibility of future exploration by humans.
“If there are tropical locations where ice can be found at shallow depths, we will have the best of both worlds: warmer conditions for human exploration while still having access to ice,” Pascal Lee said.