A new study suggests that there may be enough water hiding in the cracks of underground rocks beneath the surface of Mars to form an ocean.
The findings are based on seismic measurements from NASA’s Mars InSight lander, which detected more than 1,300 marsquakes before it shut down two years ago.
The researchers combined computer models with InSight data and determined that underground water was the most likely explanation for the seismic readings.
The water, located 11.5km to 20km beneath the surface, was most likely collected billions of years ago when Mars had rivers, lakes, and possibly oceans.
This discovery has implications for the potential existence of microbial life on Mars.