Water on Mars?
Three new underground lakes of liquid saltwater have recently been detected near the south pole of Mars by ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft.
Liquid water is vital for biology and life as we know it to survive. Billions of years ago, water flowed in rivers and pooled in lakes on the Martian surface. But today Mars has lost much of its atmosphere meaning water doesn’t remain liquid for long on its surface.
With surface temperatures on Mars averaging at -60°C (-80°F) how is there liquid water under the surface? Remarkably if you dissolve salts of magnesium and calcium perchlorate in water it can remain liquid down to -123°C (-189°F).
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, the extreme levels of salt and bitter temperatures would make it very difficult for microbial life to survive. That said, on Earth tiny microbes known as halophiles (Greek for “salt-loving”) can survive in extremely high salt concentrations and even potentially survive the temperatures too, so there’s hope yet! Bowie may still have been right…
