Medusae Fossae is a large geological area spanning thousands of kilometers around Mars' equator. More than fifteen years ago, the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft discovered strange concentrations of material up to 2.5 kilometers underneath the planet's surface. According to a new study, it could be a massive accumulation of ice. The study is based on new data collected with the MARSIS radar, one of two instruments on board Mars Express provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), designed by Sapienza University of Rome with participation from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Iowa in the United States, and managed by the National Institute of Astrophysics. The results suggest that deposits in the Medusae Fossae region extend up to 3.7 kilometers into the Red Planet's subsurface, which is far deeper than previously thought. The signal is consistent with what is expected from layered ice and is similar to what was discovered near Mars' ice-rich polar ice caps. This is the greatest water deposit yet discovered in this region of the planet; if it melts, it may cover Mars' surface with a layer of water 1.5 to 2.7 meters thick. On Earth, this amount of water would be sufficient to fill the Red Sea.
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