“Early Mars was a watery world, but as the planet’s climate changed this water retreated below the surface to form pools and groundwater,” said Dr. Francesco Salese, a researcher at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
“We traced this water in our study, as its scale and role is a matter of debate, and we found the first geological evidence of a planet-wide groundwater system on Mars.”
Dr. Salese and co-authors explored 24 deep, enclosed craters in the Martian northern hemisphere, with floors lying roughly 2.5 miles (4 km) below ‘sea level.’
The scientists found features on the floors of these craters that could only have formed in the presence of water.
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