Water on Mars is nothing new. We know there are briny subsurface reservoirs on Mars. Earlier this year, three such lakes were found. In a new paper in the journal Icarus with lead author Dan Berman from our own Planetary Science Institute, researchers detail the finding of another large reservoir, this one of water ice.

Using data from the Shallow Radar (SHARAD) instrument aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, the team mapped what are called Viscous Flow Features (VFFs), which are ice-rich flow features in the southern hemisphere of Mars. These features showed a dense concentration in Nereidum Montes, along the northern rim of the Argyre basin. Located in this subregion are a large number of ice-rich deposits, the paper says, potentially the largest concentrations of any non-polar region in the southern hemisphere.

Further analysis shows that the deposit is almost entirely water ice. Berman explains: Our radar analysis shows that at least one of these features is about 500 meters thick and nearly 100 percent ice, with debris covering at most ten meters thick. This region would be an interesting landing site due to the large amounts of ice, which could be used as a source for water. Unfortunately, it is very mountainous terrain and it would likely be very difficult to land there.

Still, it’s good to know these regions exist on Mars. As Pamela and I say, where you find one, you usually find more. 

More Information

PSI press release 

“Ice-rich landforms of the southern mid-latitudes of Mars: A case study in Nereidum Montes,” Daniel C.Berman, Frank C.Chuang, Isaac B.Smith, and David A. Crown, 2021 February, Icarus