KEY POINTS A new study explains how liquid water can exist on Mars

Certain microenvironments can support liquid water

Water ice does not sublimate in certain areas on Mars

A new study claimed that it is possible for liquid water to exist on Mars. According to the author of the study, these pools of water could be hiding in microenvironments on the Red Planet’s surface.

The existence of liquid water on Mars has always been a mystery. Although water ice is abundant on Mars, the Red Planet’s environmental conditions make it almost impossible for liquid water to exist.

As explained in previous scientific reports, Mars’ atmosphere is only 1% as dense as Earth’s at sea level. This means that when the alien planet’s temperature rises, its ice sublimates, or immediately turns into vapor instead of becoming liquid water, Space.com reported.

But according to a new study conducted by Norbert Schorghofer of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, there could be microenvironments on Mars that can hold pockets of liquid water. He presented his findings through a new paper published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Using computer simulations, Schorghofer learned that there could be water ice and carbon dioxide ice forming in shadowed regions around boulders located in the mid-latitude areas of Mars. According to the scientist, due to the location and environmental characteristics of these areas, the temperature transition in these regions happens rapidly.

The scientist explained that during the spring season, the sunlight heats up these microenvironments from minus 198 degrees Fahrenheit to 14 degrees Fahrenheit in just a couple of hours. Although the extreme temperature shift causes water ice to sublimate, it happens so fast that it can leave behind traces of liquid water that fall into the salty Martian soil. Schorghofer believes this process can form small pools of liquid brines on Mars.

Once the water drips into the Martian regolith, it can maintain its liquid form because the salt in the soil can lower the melting point of water.

“Dust contained in the CO2 frost facilitates the formation of a protective sublimation lag,” Schorghofer wrote in his paper. “Overall, melting of pure water ice is not expected under present-day Mars conditions.”

“However, at temperatures that are readily reached, seasonal water frost can melt on a salt-rich substrate,” he added.