Multiple subglacial water bodies below the south pole of Mars unveiled by new MARSIS data

Article

Lauro, Sebastian Emanuel, Pettinelli, Elena, Caprarelli, Graziella, Guallini, Luca, Rossi, Angelo Pio, Mattei, Elisabetta, Cosciotti, Barbara, Cicchetti, Andrea, Soldovieri, Francesco, Cartacci, Marco, Di Paolo, Federico, Noschese, Raffaella and Orosei, Roberto. 2021. "Multiple subglacial water bodies below the south pole of Mars unveiled by new MARSIS data." Nature Astronomy. 5, pp. 63-70. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-1200-6
Article Title

Multiple subglacial water bodies below the south pole of Mars unveiled by new MARSIS data

ERA Journal ID213748
Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsLauro, Sebastian Emanuel (Author), Pettinelli, Elena (Author), Caprarelli, Graziella (Author), Guallini, Luca (Author), Rossi, Angelo Pio (Author), Mattei, Elisabetta (Author), Cosciotti, Barbara (Author), Cicchetti, Andrea (Author), Soldovieri, Francesco (Author), Cartacci, Marco (Author), Di Paolo, Federico (Author), Noschese, Raffaella (Author) and Orosei, Roberto (Author)
Journal TitleNature Astronomy
Journal Citation5, pp. 63-70
Number of Pages8
Year2021
PublisherNature Publishing Group
Place of PublicationUnited Kingdom
ISSN2397-3366
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-1200-6
Web Address (URL)https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1200-6
Abstract

The detection of liquid water by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) at the base of the south polar layered deposits in Ultimi Scopuli has reinvigorated the debate about the origin and stability of liquid water under present-day Martian conditions. To establish the extent of subglacial water in this region, we acquired new data, achieving extended radar coverage over the study area. Here, we present and discuss the results obtained by a new method of analysis of the complete MARSIS dataset, based on signal processing procedures usually applied to terrestrial polar ice sheets. Our results strengthen the claim of the detection of a liquid water body at Ultimi Scopuli and indicate the presence of other wet areas nearby. We suggest that the waters are hypersaline perchlorate brines, known to form at Martian polar regions and thought to survive for an extended period of time on a geological scale at below-eutectic temperatures.

KeywordsDeposits promethei lingula, liquid water, ice-sheet, aqueous-solutions, radar evidence, perchlorate, brines, beneath, deliquescence, stratigraphy
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020510199. Astronomical sciences not elsewhere classified
Public Notes

Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions.

Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
Byline AffiliationsRoma Tre University, Italy
University of Southern Queensland
National Institute for Astrophysics, Italy
Jacobs University Bremen, Germany
National Research Council, Italy
Permalink -

https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q79v3/multiple-subglacial-water-bodies-below-the-south-pole-of-mars-unveiled-by-new-marsis-data

Log in to edit
  • 42
    total views
  • 3
    total downloads
  • 1
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

Reply to: Explaining bright radar reflections below the south pole of Mars without liquid water
Lauro, Sebastian Emanuel, Pettinelli, Elena, Caprarelli, Graziella, Guallini, Luca, Rossi, Angelo Pio, Mattei, Elisabetta, Cosciotti, Barbara, Cicchetti, Andrea, Soldovieri, Francesco, Cartacci, M., Di Paolo, F., Noschese, R. and Orosei, R.. 2023. "Reply to: Explaining bright radar reflections below the south pole of Mars without liquid water." Nature Astronomy. 7 (3), pp. 259-261. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-022-01871-0
Fire in the Earth System: Introduction to the Special Collection
East, Amy, AghaKouchak, Amir, Caprarelli, Graziella, Filippelli, Gabriel, Florindo, Fabio, Luce, Charles, Rajaram, Harihar, Russell, Lynn, Santin, Cristina and Santos, Isaac. 2023. "Fire in the Earth System: Introduction to the Special Collection." Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface. 128 (4). https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JF007184
Can Clay Mimic the High Reflectivity of Briny Water Below the Martian SPLD?
Cosciotti, Barbara, Mattei, Elisabetta, Brin, Alessandro, Lauro, Sebastian Emanuel, Stillman, David E., Cunje, Alister, Hickson, Dylan, Caprarelli, Graziella and Pettinelli, Elena. 2023. "Can Clay Mimic the High Reflectivity of Briny Water Below the Martian SPLD?" Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 128 (3). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JE007513
Lunar polar water resource exploration – Examination of the lunar cold trap reservoir system model and introduction of play-based exploration (PBE) techniques
Casanova, Sophia, Espejel, Carlos, Dempster, Andrew G., Anderson, Robert C., Caprarelli, Graziella and Saydam, Serkan. 2020. "Lunar polar water resource exploration – Examination of the lunar cold trap reservoir system model and introduction of play-based exploration (PBE) techniques." Planetary and Space Science. 180, pp. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2019.104742
Partially-Saturated Brines Within Basal Ice or Sediments Can Explain the Bright Basal Reflections in the South Polar Layered Deposits
Stillman, D. E., Pettinelli, E., Lauro, S. E., Mattei, E., Caprarelli, G., Cosciotti, B., Primm, K. M. and Orosei, R.. 2022. "Partially-Saturated Brines Within Basal Ice or Sediments Can Explain the Bright Basal Reflections in the South Polar Layered Deposits." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 127 (10). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JE007398
Numerical simulations of radar echoes rule out basal CO2 ice deposits at Ultimi Scopuli, Mars
Orosei, Roberto, Caprarelli, Graziella, Lauro, Sebastian, Pettinelli, Elena, Cartacci, Marco, Cicchetti, Andrea, Cosciotti, Barbara, De Lorenzis, Alessandro, De Nunzio, Giorgio, Mattei, Elisabetta, Nenna, Carlo, Noschese, Raffaella and Soldovieri, Francesco. 2022. "Numerical simulations of radar echoes rule out basal CO2 ice deposits at Ultimi Scopuli, Mars." Icarus. 386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115163
Assessing the role of clay and salts on the origin of MARSIS basal bright reflections
Mattei, Elisabetta, Pettinelli, Elena, Lauro, Sebastian Emanue, Stillman, David E., Cosciotti, Barbara, Marinangeli, Lucia, Tangari, Anna Chiara, Soldovieri, Francesco, Orosei, Roberto and Caprarelli, Graziella. 2022. "Assessing the role of clay and salts on the origin of MARSIS basal bright reflections." Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117370
Using MARSIS signal attenuation to assess the presence of South Polar Layered Deposit subglacial brines
Lauro, Sebastian E., Pettinelli, Elena, Caprarelli, Graziella, Baniamerian, Jamaledin, Mattei, Elisabetta, Cosciotti, Barbara, Stillman, David E., Primm, Katherine M., Soldovieri, Francesco and Orosei, Roberto. 2022. "Using MARSIS signal attenuation to assess the presence of South Polar Layered Deposit subglacial brines." Nature Communications. 13 (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33389-4
Thank You to Our 2021 Reviewers
Caprarelli, Graziella, Altintas, Ilkay, Baratoux, David, Cervato, Cinzia, Diviacco, Paolo, Donea, Alina, Donnellan, Andrea, Gentemann, Chelle, Glaves, Helen M., Jiang, Jonathan H., Jones, Cathleen E., Maute, Astrid, Pirenne, Benoit, Pryor, Sara C., Tiampo, Kristy and Xie, Zunyi. 2022. "Thank You to Our 2021 Reviewers." Earth and Space Science. 9 (4). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EA002372