Where is a significant fraction of Mars's remaining water currently locked away according to orbital observations and radar data?
Answer
As ice deposits in the polar ice caps and mixed into the subsurface soil
While massive amounts of surface water were lost to space or vaporized, not all water vanished. A substantial fraction remains stored in frozen form. Radar data and orbital observations confirm extensive reservoirs existing beneath the surface layers, particularly in the mid-latitudes. These reserves are primarily located as ice deposits within the polar ice caps and mixed throughout the subsurface soil. The current surface conditions of extreme cold and low pressure prevent this ice from melting into stable liquid water today, except potentially in rare, localized pockets warmed geothermally.
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