"We have detected a large amount of water in the central region of Valles Marinelles - far more than we expected."
Image of Canda Canyon taken by the Mars Express satellite in 2006.
In one of the most amazing regions of the Red Planet, water ice may be buried just feet from the surface.
's latest research results are based on data obtained by tracer gas detectors (TGO). The probe is part of the unmanned Mars exploration mission carried out by the European Space Agency and the Russian Space Agency. The entire mission system includes the tracer gas detector launched in 2016 and the Rosalind Franklin detector planned to be launched next year. Among the equipment configured on the tracer gas detector is a high-resolution epithermal neutron detector (FREND), which can detect hydrogen, one of the elements that synthesize water molecules. The latest FREND data analysis shows that there is a large amount of hydrogen element in the Canda Chaos Canyon, the central area of Valles Marinelles, which is full of canyons.
Alexei Malakhov, a senior scientist at the Space Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is also a co-author of this new article. He said in the ESA report: "We detected that there is a large amount of water in the central area of Valles Marinelis that far exceeds our previous estimates. This is very similar to the permafrost area on Earth, where water ice is permanently sealed under the frozen soil due to long-term low temperatures."
Valles Marinelles, located near the equator of Mars , is the largest canyon in the solar system and the most striking feature on the surface of Mars. Its diameter and length are ten times that of the Earth's Grand Canyon and five times its depth. Previously, scientists had looked for Martian water ice in the equatorial region of Mars, but at that time they were only able to study the surface atmosphere and found only a small amount of water.
New research expands the depth of scientists' research, allowing them to observe the upper surface underground and the surface at the same time.
Lgor Mitrofanov is another scientist at the Space Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the first author of the new study. As the principal researcher of the FREND instrument, he said in the report: "With the tracer gas detector, we are able to detect the area 1 meter (3 feet) below the dust to understand the real world below the surface of Mars. However, unfortunately, previous equipment cannot detect and locate water source storage points."
Picture: Artist's rendering of the tracer gas detector working on Mars
The exaggerated and wrongly colored gullies in the vertical view have become large Martian canyons covered by water. Whether trenches on Mars were once filled with surface water or groundwater is highly controversial. The trench is 25 miles (40 kilometers) wide, 1.6 miles (2.5 kilometers) deep, and more than 310 miles (500 kilometers) long.
The researchers said that if all the hydrogen they detected came from water ice, then this precious compound would be able to create about 40% of the near-surface material in this area. However, FREND is also able to detect water in surrounding minerals, although scientists believe this possibility is very slim in comparison.
Harvey Swedham said in the report: "This discovery is an exciting first step, but we still need more observational data to clarify the constituent elements of the currently discovered water." Harvey Swedham is a former scientist in the tracer gas detector research part of the ESA project and a co-author of the new study. "Regardless of the result, this discovery demonstrates the unparalleled capabilities of the tracer gas detector equipment, which allows us to understand the situation below the surface of Mars and reveals to us the existence of shallow and easily detectable large reservoirs in this area of Mars."
According to the ESA report, this new research is mainly based on data obtained by FREND in May 2018 and February 2021.
A picture of the central area of the Valles Marinelles Grand Canyon on Mars obtained by NASA's Mars probe .
Colin Wilson, a scientist on the European Space Agency's Tracer Gas Detector project, said in the report: "Understanding more information about how the current water on Mars was produced and where it is is necessary for us to understand what happened to the once water-rich Mars. This will help to study biological habitable environments, early fires Signs of ancient life on the planet and organic matter. "
Related knowledge
Mars is the fourth planet closest to the sun and the second smallest planet in the solar system after Mercury. It is one of the four terrestrial planets in the solar system. Mars is called Mars in the West and is the god of war in Roman mythology. Therefore, in English, Mars means the Roman god of war and is often called the "red planet"; in ancient Chinese, it is called Yinghuo because it is as bright as fire and its position and brightness often change, making it difficult to grasp.
BY: Meghan Bartels
FY: Qiu
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