An airborne survey of a presumably dry Antarctic valley revealed a stunning and unexpected interconnected subsurface briny aquifer deep beneath the frozen tundra, a finding that not only has implications for understanding extreme habitats for life on Earth, but the potential for life elsewhere in the solar system, particularly Mars.
New research suggests we might want to widen our search for Earth-like exoplanets. Younger stars, it turns out, are hot enough to support exoplanetary life farther away from a star than we thought.
NASA Ames/SETI Institute/JPL-Caltech
The briny liquid -- about twice as salty as seawater -- was discovered about 1,000 feet underground in a region known as Taylor Valley. The aquifer is widespread, extending from the Ross Sea’s McMurdo Sound more than 11 miles into the eastern part of valley. A second system was found connecting Taylor Glacier with the ice-cover Lake Bonney.
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