Mars Pole Holds Enough Ice to Flood Planet, Radar Study Shows

Recent studies show evidence that the southern polar ice cap of mars contains enough water to cover the entire planet 36 feet (11 meters) deep if melted. This is the most accurate and precise calculation for the thickness of the planet's ice. The radar of the Mars express orbiter, revealed that the ice was surprisingly pure. The study also indicates that the polar ice cap may also contain just a little bit of frozen carbon dioxide, or dry ice. The research team also found a series of depressions buried beneath the ice only 180 miles (300 kilometers) from the pole. The amount of water in the ice cap is more than most scientists had expected, but not by a huge amount. And even when combined with the amount believed to reside at the planet's north pole, it's still only a small fraction of the water that scientists believe once existed on the red planet.