Mars might have HUGE lakes of bitterly cold -48C salt water – but scientists can’t work out if they hide life or not
THE surface of Mars can support liquid brine, a high-concentration solution of salt in water.
This is according to a new study which also suggested that these salty conditions may still not be great for life as we know it.
This isn't good news for Earth-based microorganisms but researchers haven't ruled out alien-life forms being able to survive.
It's also good news for human visitors who don't want to contaminate the planet with Earth microbes.
We already know that pure liquid water can't last on Mars's surface but research suggests added salt could help it stick around.
Nasa has already detected some salts in the Martian soil and now researchers are suggesting these salts could make brine possible.
No definite salty water has ever been found on Mars but a controversial report has previously suggested there is a huge lake buried near the planet's south pole.
In fact, there have been several hints of water being underground on Mars.
To learn more about how brines could work in these conditions planetary scientist Edgard Rivera-Valentín and colleagues ran some computer simulations.
They found one type of brine that could remain liquid on the red planet's surface and a few centimetres below it for six hours across 40% of Mars.
However, this salty liquid could never be warmer than around –48° Celsius (-54.4°F).
That's around 25 degrees lower than the known tolerance for organisms on Earth so if that water was to support life it's unlikely to be anything we're familiar with.
The researchers think their findings are useful for any future Mars missions.
This is because any missions looking for water will be under strict conditions not to contaminate with microbes from Earth.
If Martian brines are completely uninhabitable though, these restrictions could be loosened.
This research has been published in the journal .
Water on Mars explained
Almost all that water on Mars exists as ice.
However, there is some water vapour in the atmosphere.
The ice is found at the planets poles although mostly at the north pole.
Nasa has found further evidence of a large amount of ice under Mars' surface.
It is thought that ice played a big role in Mars' geological history.
Mars facts
Here's what you need to know about the red planet...
- Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun
- It is named after the Roman god of war
- The landmass of Mars is very similar to Earth but due to the difference in gravity you could jump three times higher there than you can here
- Mars is mountainous and hosts the tallest mountain known in the Solar System called Olympus Mons, which is three times higher than Everest
- Mars is considered to be the second most habitable planet after Earth
- It takes the planet 687 Earth days to orbit the Sun
- So far, there has been 39 missions to Mars but only 16 of these have been successful
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