In recent decades, we’ve become aware of lots of water on Earth that’s deep under ice. In some cases, we’ve watched this water nervously, as it’s deep underneath ice sheets, where it could lubricate the sheets’ slide into the sea. But we’ve also discovered lakes that have been trapped under ice near the poles, possibly for millions of years, raising the prospect that they could harbor ancient ecosystems.
Now, researchers are applying some of the same techniques that we’ve used to find those under-ice lakes to data from Mars. And the results support an earlier claim that there are bodies of water trapped under the polar ice of the red planet.
Spotting liquids from orbit
Mars clearly has extensive water locked away in the forum of ice, and some of it cycles through the atmosphere as orbital cycles make one pole or the other a bit warmer. But there’s not going to be pure liquid water on Mars—the temperatures just aren’t high enough for very long, and the atmospheric pressures are far too low to keep any liquid water from boiling off into the atmosphere.
Calculations suggest, however, that liquid water is possible on Mars—just not on the surface. With enough dissolved salts, a water-rich brine could remain liquid at the temperatures prevalent on Mars—even in the polar areas. And if it’s trapped under the Martian surface, there might be enough pressure to keep it liquid despite the thin atmosphere. That surface could be Martian soil, and people are thinking about that possibility. But the surface could also be one of the ice sheets we’ve spotted on Mars.
That possibility helped motivate the design of the MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding) on the Mars Express orbiter. MARSIS is a radar device that uses wavelengths that water ice is transparent to. As a result, most of the photons that come back to the instrument are reflected by the interface between ice and something else: the atmosphere, the underlying bedrock, and potentially any interface between the ice and a liquid brine underneath it.
And that’s what the original results, published in 2018, seemed to indicate. In an area called Ultimi Scopuli near Mars’ south pole. The researchers saw a bright reflection, distinct from the one caused by the underlying bedrock, at some specific locations under the ice. And they interpreted this as indicating a boundary between ice and some liquid brines.
Now with more data
Two things have changed since those earlier results were done. One is that Mars Express has continued to pass over Mars’ polar regions, generating even more data for analysis. The second is that studies of ice-covered lakes on Earth have also advanced, with new ones identified from orbit using similar data. So some of the team behind the original work decided it was time to revisit the ice sheets at Ultimi Scopuli.
The analysis involves looking at details of the photons reflected back to the MARSIS instrument from a 250 x 300 square kilometer area. One aspect of that is the basic reflectivity of the different layers that can be discerned from the data. Other aspects of the signal can tell us about how smooth the surface of the reflective boundaries are and whether the nature of the boundary changes suddenly.
For example, the transition from an ice-bedrock boundary to an ice-brine one would cause a sudden shift from a relatively weak, uneven signal to a brighter and smoother one.
The researchers generated separate maps of the intensity and the smoothness of the signal and found that the maps largely overlapped, giving them confidence that they were identifying real transitions in the surfaces. A separate measure of the material (called permittivity) showed that it was high in the same location.
Overall, the researchers found that the largest area that’s likely to have water under the ice as about 20 by 30 kilometers. And it’s separated by bedrock features from a number of similar but smaller bodies. Calling these bodies “lakes” is speculative, given that we have no idea how deep they are. But the data certainly is consistent with some sort of under-ice feature—even if we use the standards of detection that have been used for under-ice lakes on Earth.
How did that get there?
The obvious question following the assumption that these bodies are filled with a watery brine is how that much liquid ended up there. We know that these salty solutions can stay liquid at temperatures far below the freezing point. But the conditions on Mars are such that most of minimum temperatures for water to remain liquid are right at the edge of the possible conditions at the site of the polar ice sheets. So some people have suggested geological activity as a possible source of heat to keep things liquid.
That’s not necessarily as unlikely as it may sound. Some groups have proposed that some features indicate that there was magma on the surface of Mars as recently as recently as 2 million years ago. But the researchers here argue that if things are on the edge of working under current climate conditions, there’s no need to resort to anything exceptional.
Instead, they suggest that the sorts of salts we already know are present on Mars can absorb water vapor out of the thin Martian atmosphere. Once formed, these can remain liquid down to 150 Kelvin, when the local temperatures at Ultimi Scopuli are likely to be in the area of 160 Kelvin and increase with depth.
And if that’s true, there could be liquid in many more locations at Mars’ poles. Not all of them are as amenable to orbital imaging as Ultimi Scopuli, but it’s a safe bet that this team will try to find additional ones.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
