Report: Water springs found on Mars

A portion of the wall and floor of an ancient impact crater in the southern cratered terrain of Noachis Terra

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June 21, 2000
Web posted at: 10:32 a.m. EDT (1432 GMT)

From staff reports

(CNN) -- Despite being a cold, arid world, Mars shows signs of liquid water seeping to its surface, according to NASA scientists quoted in news reports.

Looking at images snapped by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, researchers have detected evidence of springs on the surface, USAToday reported Wednesday. The discovery could focus on the Valles Marineris region, a gigantic canyon that dominates the planetary landscape, according to NASA Watch, an independent Web site that monitors the space agency.

While scientists believe water flowed on the red planet billions of years ago, its atmosphere has become too thin for water to collect on the surface. But scientists have looked for signs of water in deep recesses of the planet. The Valles Marineris canyon descends several miles, or kilometers, below the surface in places.

NASA officials would not comment on the report. But agency scientists will publish their findings in the June 29 issue of Science magazine, according to the NASA Watch Web site.

The Mars Global Surveyor has taken other photos that scientists theorized showed evidence of past water seepage.

One 1997 image of the southern Noachis Terra region reveals depressions on a crater wall characteristic of water leaking from an underground source, according to Malin Space Sciences, which operates the Surveyor camera.

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NASA
Mars Global Surveyor
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