Researchers reveal widespread, hardworking water on ancient Mars

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This three-dimensional image of a trough in the Nili Fossae region of Mars shows phyllosilcates (in magenta and blue hues) concentrated on the slopes of mesas and along canyon walls. The abundance of phyllosilcates show that water played a sizable ro ...
This three-dimensional image of a trough in the Nili Fossae region of Mars shows phyllosilcates (in magenta and blue hues) concentrated on the slopes of mesas and along canyon walls. The abundance of phyllosilcates show that water played a sizable role in changing the minerals of a variety of terrains in Mars's early history. Credit: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL/University of Arizona/Brown University
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For decades, scientists have theorized – romanticized, even – that Mars has harbored water. The evidence has grown stronger as recent missions to the Red Planet have revealed in stunning detail Martian topography, mineralogy and clues to past climate. But how much water, where it was or is located and what it was doing have been hard to pin down.


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