The new research shows that Mars is much more here than we thought

March“Glaciers are more than 80% of pure ice, formed by similar processes in the world. This discovery highlights the past climate and future exploration resources.

On the slopes of the Martian mountains and in its craters are formations that resemble honey streams, covered with dust and frozen in place. These structures are, in fact, glaciers that advance at an almost imperceptible pace. For years, scientists thought that they were largely made up of rock with only limited quantities of mixed ice.

Research carried out in the past two decades has shown that some of these glaciers are in fact composed mainly of ice, with just a thin layer of dust and rock. Now, a new study published in Icarus reveals that this is not limited to a few sites – glaciers across March contain more than 80% of water ice. This discovery indicates that the planet’s glacial deposits are remarkably pure on a global scale, offering a new idea of ​​the history of the March climate and pointing to a potential resource for future exploration.

The study was led by Yuval Steinberg, recent graduate of the Weizmann Institute of Sciences in Israel. His co-authors, Oded Aharonson and Isaac Smith, are main scientists of the Institute of Planetary Sciences in Tucson, with academic affiliations at the Weizmann Institute of Science and York University, respectively.

“This study underlines how Nasa Programs make science progress not only in the United States, but also to reach students around the world, “said Aharonson.

Look under the veil covered with dust

While the researchers examined previous studies, they realized that the analysis of the glaciers covered with debris had been incoherent and difficult to compare.

“Different techniques had been applied by researchers to various sites, and the results could not be easily compared,” said Smith. “One of the sites in our study had never been studied and, out of two of the five sites we used, only partial analysis had been completed previously.”

To remedy this, the team has developed a standardized approach to examine the glaciers covered with debris. They focused on two key measurements: dielectric property (which reflects the speed with which radar waves cross a material) and tangent loss (which indicates the amount of this energy absorbed by the material). These values ​​make it possible to estimate the ratio of the ice to switch to a glacier – something that cannot be determined by surface observation alone, because dust and rock often obscure what is below.

Global comparison of Martian glaciers

They also identified another area on Mars where Sharad, abbreviation of the shallow radar instrument aboard the Mars recognition orbit, could also do these analyzes. This gave them a total of five sites spread over the red planet, allowing a global comparison.

They were surprised to note that all the glaciers, even in the opposite hemispheres, have almost the same properties.

“This is important because he tells us that the training and preservation mechanisms are probably the same everywhere,” said Smith. “From this, we can conclude that Mars experienced a general glaciation or multiple glaciations which had similar properties. And, by bringing together these sites and techniques for the first time, we were able to unify our understanding of these types of glaciers. ”

Knowing the minimum purity of these glaciers benefits the scientific understanding of the processes that form and preserve them. In addition, this helps during the planning of a future human exploration of Mars, when the use of local resources, such as water, becomes a critical mission.

Then, the team will look for additional glaciers to add their global comparison and solidify their understanding of these mysteries covered with dust.

Reference: “Physical properties of underground water ice deposits in the average latitudes of the shallow radar” by Yuval Steinberg, Isaac B. Smith and Oded Aharonson, July 7, 2025, Icarus.
DOI: 10.1016 / J.acarus .2025.116716

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