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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Mars may have enough oxygen underneath its surface for life [engadget.com]

[A] new study in Nature Geoscience [nature.com] posits that it's possible that Mars may have enough oxygen to harbor life under its surface.

The team was led by Vlada Stamenković from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and their findings stemmed from two different discoveries. We know there's a possibility that there are subsurface lakes of briny water on Mars [engadget.com]; one in particular may be located under the Martian polar ice cap. This means there's a lot of potential for oxygen within these lakes, if they exist.

Back in 2016, the Mars Curiosity rover discovered that Mars may once have had an oxygen-rich atmosphere [engadget.com], but the loss of its magnetic field meant that the bulk of its surface oxygen escaped. However, there is still oxygen within the planet's rocks which means that it may be present underneath the surface of the planet.

Previously: Liquid Water Lake Detected Underneath Polar Ice on Mars [soylentnews.org]

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