Sharjah 24 – Reuters: In a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, NASA scientists say much more liquid water may lie beneath the south pole of Mars than scientists had thought — or there may be something going on inside Mars that they don't fully understand.

In 2018, researchers found radar evidence of a big subsurface lake under the planet's south pole.

They later found evidence for three more underground lakes in that area. Now, a different NASA team has taken a very deep dive into the same probe's radar data.

The team found dozens of radar reflections similar to the four that had been interpreted as buried lakes.

But many of the newfound signals were spotted relatively close to the surface, in places seemingly too cold to support liquid water.

The new study's researchers say they're not certain whether these signals are liquid water or not, but they appear to be much more widespread than what the original study found.

They say that, either liquid water is common underneath Mars' south pole, or the signals are indicating something else.