Researcher has announced the discovery of 150,000 tons of water on Mars

Olympus Mons (Photo: European Space Agency- ESA)

On Monday, the discovery of frost, which contains at least 150,000 tons of water, was found on the Red Planet. There are 30,000 images of water frost captured by the European Space Agency's Mars Express and ExoMars.

The researcher has found these layers of water frost on the top of Tharsis volcanoes, that have a series of 12 large peaks. The frost was discovered on the volcanoes Olympus, Arsia Ascraeus Mons, and Ceraunius Tholus.

According to the studies done, these frosts are reported to have a thickness of “one hundredth of a millimetre thick or about the width of a human hair,”. The formation of these frosts happens when the temperature is cold and the high temperature that happens in daylight hours results in their evaporation.

According to Adomas Valantinas, a postdoctoral fellow at Brown University who was part of this study, in a press release, she shared her view on the Mars frost "We thought it was improbable for frost to form around Mars' equator, as the mix of sunshine and thin atmosphere keeps temperatures during the day relatively high at both the surface and mountaintop — unlike what we see on Earth, where you might expect to see frosty peaks,".

This finding could help with upcoming human exploration missions, and this is evidence of the presence of water on Mars. Water frost provides clues about the history of the Mars climate, as studies on this formation prove the geology of the planet.

According to the researchers, this frost could be from the past climate cycle, when precipitation or snowfall may have occurred on the volcanoes.