Scientists determine the location of water on the surface of Mars

Researchers from Binghamton University identifiedUnited States of America), the location of the disappearance of water on Mars surface.

According to their data, it may be trapped in layers of clay minerals, 30 km below the surface, according to the Daily Mail.

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There is also an iron-rich mineral called smectite on the earth, formed as a result of a specific interaction between rocks and water.

Research has shown that iron-rich bivalent smectite is present on the surface of Mars, and is the least heat-resistant form of smectite.

“Once we saw that divalent iron smectite was stable up to about 600 degrees Celsius at a depth of 30 km, it became clear that smectite could actually be an important reservoir of water lost on Mars,” said David Jenkins, professor of geology and environment at Binghamton University.

Previous studies showed that Mars was rich in water four billion years ago. The Red Planet contains many ancient dry valleys and river channels, and Jezero crater where the Perseverance rover now operates was, once, the bottom of a huge reservoir.

Most of the water that once existed on Mars was now thought to be stored as ice on the polar caps and below the surface, but new data shows that there is little ice on the planet to explain the disappearance of all water resources.

Scientists have speculated, that the remaining water can be absorbed by minerals, experiments have proven that this is physically possible. But researchers still have to determine the total amount of clay minerals and perform analyzes to confirm or disprove their theory.