Monitoring of ice veins under the surface of Mars

Researchers from the United States have spotted many places with "snowy veins" in the upper layers beneath the surface of Mars, researchers from the United States said on Monday.

Under the supervision of Colin Dondas of the American Rocky Survey, in their study published Thursday in the journal Science, the thickness of the ice-water layer is 100 meters.

The researchers stressed that this open ice is a target worthy of research follow-up during future scientific missions.

Several studies - some radar - have provided evidence of ice water under the surface of the Red Planet, but researchers are still questioning the extent, thickness and purity of the ice.

To find out the truth of the ice, the team of researchers, under the supervision of Donadas, analyzed the images sent by a HiRise camera on the Mars Mars spacecraft Mars Research Orbit.

The researchers found the camera using eight orbits that revealed the rock layers in the central regions of Mars, showing ice under the upper layer.

The images show that the ice begins in some areas at a depth of two meters below the surface, and can reach the thickness of more than 100 meters.

This is why ice has formed layers, indicating that these deposits were gradually produced and over time by snowfall, making this ice a kind of archive that can be analyzed by knowing the details of the history of the climate of the Red Planet.

However, since the medium near these glacial veins observed is poor in holes and craters, researchers believe that these sediments are relatively new geologically.

By analyzing the images of one of the orbits, the researchers found that rock masses, some of them in thickness, fell over three years of Mars from these icy veins.

The researchers believe that this is due to slow evaporation of the ice resulting in a closed rock; as a result of this process erosion of the scales a few millimeters per year, according to researchers likely.

Based on their observations and analyzes, the researchers also speculate that the ice below the surface of the upper crust of the Martian surface is more likely than previously assumed.

The researchers said the water ice was easy to reach because of its relatively low depth.

The researchers expected the ice to be a valuable source of water for any future Mars mission.