Scientists find ice deposits on Mars with potential to support human visitors

http://www.dw.com/en/scientists-find-ice-deposits-on-mars-with-potential-to-support-human-visitors/a-42119792

Scientists find ice deposits on Mars with potential to support human visitors

12.01.2018

Scientists said Thursday they had detected thick ice deposits on steep slopes near the surface of Mars that could support a future human mission to the planet. Researchers have long known about shallow ground ice and ice deposits near the Red Planet's poles. But the new report published in US journal Science shows eight sites where "nearly pure ice" is exposed along steep underground cliffs nearer to the middle of the planet.

The report's authors used images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), a NASA spacecraft that has analyzed the Martian atmosphere and surface since 2006. "It was surprising to find ice exposed at the surface at these places," said Colin Dundas of the US Geological Study, who led the study. "In the mid-latitudes, it's [ice] normally covered by a blanket of dust or regolith [loose bits of rock on top of bedrock]."

The slopes — called "scarps" — were found in the northern and southern hemispheres at latitudes that on Earth would be equivalent to Scotland or the tip of South America.

Researchers said the depth of the ice ranges from a few feet (one meter) below the surface to as deep as 100 meters or more. The ice contains bands and color variations that indicate it was formed layer by layer. "Our interpretation is that this is consolidated snow deposited in geologically recent times," Dundas said. But scientists said it remained unclear how and when exactly the deposits formed, adding that the lack of asteroid craters on the surface suggested they formed relatively recently.
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