Scientists suspect that the Polar Lakes on Mars are just frozen clay

Hitekno.com – Scientists highlight the existence of Lake pole which is on the planet Mars. But a new study finds that the location isn’t what it used to be.

Scientists discovered that bright reflections detected by radar below south pole of mars, likely not an underground lake as previously thought.

But according to the scientists in the study, the location of the so-called polar lake is just clay deposits.

For decades, experts have suspected that water is hidden beneath the polar ice caps of Mars.

In 2018, a team of scientists using the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express radar sounder instrument, detected evidence of a lake hidden beneath the Red Planet’s south polar ice sheet.

Then in 2020, the team found signs of a number of super salty lakes there.

Experts note that if this lake is a remnant of water that once existed on the surface, then the lake may have harbored life and still exists.

“However, to form and maintain liquid water in the Martian region, very high amounts of heat and salt are required,” said Isaac Smith, a planetary scientist at York University in Toronto, quoted from Space.com, Friday (30/7/2021).

York said that clay minerals known to be in the south polar region of Mars could explain the radar reflection.

The scientists focused on a mineral known as smectite, a type of clay that has a chemical composition closer to that of volcanic rock than other types of clay.

Smectite is formed when eroded volcanic rock undergoes mild chemical changes after interacting with water. This clay can hold large amounts of water.

The team cooled smectite in the laboratory to minus (-) 43 degrees Celsius, following the temperature on Mars.

Experts found that smectite containing water can produce the type of bright radar reflection detected by MARSIS.

Previously, Smith and his team analyzed data collected at the south pole of Mars and they also found evidence of smectites there.

The team says smectite forms at Mars’ south pole during the summer, when the area is covered in water.

This water -containing clay is then buried under ice water.

In conclusion, the scientists suspect that smectites are the most likely explanation for the detection of bright radar reflections seen on Mars rather than the presence of super salty lakes.

The investigation of water on Mars is still in the spotlight, because it is possible to create life on this red planet. (Suara.com/ Lintang Siltya Utami).

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