Mars Water Estimate Swings From Near Zero to 3.2 Kilometers in New InSight Reanalysis
Updated
Updated · spacedaily.com · Aug 20
Mars Water Estimate Swings From Near Zero to 3.2 Kilometers in New InSight Reanalysis
2 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Aug 20
Summary
A 2026 reanalysis of NASA InSight seismic data found Mars’s inferred global-equivalent subsurface water layer could range from nearly zero to 3.2 kilometers, sharply widening uncertainty around a major hidden reservoir.
Eight rock-physics models tested against three seismic input sets showed the estimate depends heavily on assumptions about mineralogy, cracks and pore geometry rather than on any direct detection of liquid water.
The 2024 study had favored water-filled fractured igneous rock 11.5 to 20 kilometers deep and extrapolated that local signal to a planet-wide layer about 1 to 2 kilometers deep.
InSight measured seismic waves from one site at Elysium Planitia, so any global total remains an extrapolation; earlier work also showed gas-filled and liquid-filled pores can fit some crustal signals.
At roughly 11,500 meters down, any such water is far beyond current Mars drilling and remains more important as a scientific and possible habitability target than as a practical resource.