---
title: "Researchers Detect “Deep Groundwater” on Mars"
description: "USC researchers claim evidence of a deep Martian groundwater system that spills out through surface cracks to form visible above-ground streams."
date: "2019-03-29"
modified: "2019-03-29"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/deep-martian-groundwater"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Mars"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "mars"
  - "mars express"
  - "the digest"
  - "water"
---

# Researchers Detect “Deep Groundwater” on Mars

![USC researchers claim evidence of a deep Martian groundwater system that spills out through surface cracks to form visible above-ground streams.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/researchers-detect-deep-groundwater-on-mars.png>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA/JPL\</em\>*

## Deep Mars

Researchers at the University of Southern California [dropped a bold claim](<https://news.usc.edu/155539/new-evidence-of-deep-groundwater-on-mars/>) Thursday: based on a new analysis, Mars likely harbors a "deep groundwater" system that probably extends far beyond the planet's poles and bubbles to the surface through cracks in craters.

"We have seen the same mechanisms in the North African Sahara and in the Arabian Peninsula, and it helped us explore the same mechanism on Mars," researcher Abotalib Abotalib said in a [press release](<https://news.usc.edu/155539/new-evidence-of-deep-groundwater-on-mars/>).

## Water World

In a [new paper](<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0327-5>) published in the prestigious journal *Nature Geoscience*, Abotalib and his colleagues detail their analysis of data from a radar instrument on Mars Express, a European Space Agency probe that orbits the Red Planet.

Last month, the probe [provided evidence](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/mars-groundwater-system-planet-wide>) of a wider Martian groundwater system than scientists had previously believed to exist. But the Southern California team's analysis takes this a step further, hypothesizing that pressurized water under the surface spills out through cracks to form visible above-ground streams.

**READ MORE:** [USC researchers find new evidence of deep groundwater on Mars](<https://news.usc.edu/155539/new-evidence-of-deep-groundwater-on-mars/>) \[University of Southern California\]

**More on Mars:** [*New Research: Mars Used to be Covered In Huge Rivers*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/mars-covered-huge-rivers>)

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)