Mars: Ice cap found on equator?

Planetary scientist have been scratching their head over weird deposits found Mars' equator because they seem to contain large amounts of water. Of course, Mars already has ice-water on its poles but this new discovery may indicate a possibility that the red planet has water elsewhere also.





















Kenneth Tanaka, an astrogeologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Flagstaff, Arizona, said "It would be like finding evidence of ice caps on Earth at the Equator, It's kind of very strange."

If Mars does have an icy equator, it could indicate a possibility for life on the red planet.

Some experts have suggested that it could volcanic ash porous enough to look like ice. Tanaka argues saying that "The problem was we couldn't find any volcanoes" nearby, he said. "There's a lack of smoking guns."

This new find reinforces the idea that Mars was once like Earth and had its own bodies of water.


source:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/11/071101-mars-ice.html


For more articles on life on Mars: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/070803-phoenix-mars.html