Bound water on Mars Options

[alan]

Physicists at the University of Guelph have detected the first "on-the-spot" evidence of significant amounts of water still existing on Mars.

Rather than existing in pools, the water is trapped in sub-surface soil on the red planet, most likely the remnants of oceans or pools that evaporated, according to lead researcher Iain Campbell.

"Our work is the first in situ evidence for total bound water in the Martian subsurface,” said Campbell,

An X-ray spectrometer called an APXS on the rover's arm captured the data about the trapped water. "Other instruments suggest the possibility — the APXs lets us determine the actual amount," said Campbell,

The water appears to be contained in mineral compounds in sulphur-rich soil just beneath the planet's surface, Campbell said. The distinctive bright white material was churned up by the rover's wheels as it moved across the soft red surface in the Columbia Hills region of the planet

In a paper that is in the final stage of review by the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, the team says the bright, sulphur-rich material contains up to 16 per cent water.

http://www.uoguelph.ca/news/2007/10/u_of_g_scientis_1.html