New York: Scientists claim to have found vast quantities of ice deposits below the surface across great swathes of Mars. Using data and images captured by the Sharad radar on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft, they have discovered the frozen water in the Red Planet's mid-northern latitudes, far from its polar ice caps.

According to the NASA scientists, the ice is found in distinctive geological structures on the Martian surface that are hundreds of metres thick. "We would say, robustly, more than 50 per cent ice by volume - but it could be much more," Jeff Plaut, the Chief Scientist for Sharad, said.

In their analysis, the NASA team looked at Martian surface features called lobate debris aprons (LDAs) which are distinctive, dome-shaped structures concentrated in the Red Planet's northern and southern hemispheres. In fact, they concentrated at LDAs in the Deuteronilus Mensae region of Mars northern hemisphere, where the features can be found at the bases of valley walls, craters and scarps of mesas.

Source : PTI