--- title: Mars May Have Far More Water Than We Thought | TIME description: For its first billion or so years, Mars was partly covered in water, as dry ocean basins and riverbeds on its surface now attest. But three billion years ago the planet lost its magnetic field, possibly due to a cooling of its core, allowing the solar wind to strip away its atmosphere. This, so the thinking went, caused the water to evaporate into space. However, according to a new study, it appears that the water may still be there, trapped in the pores of volcanic rock. canonical: https://time.com/video/gKfCXi5b/ og:title: Mars May Have Far More Water Than We Thought og:description: For its first billion or so years, Mars was partly covered in water, as dry ocean basins and riverbeds on its surface now attest. But three billion years ago the planet lost its magnetic field, possibly due to a cooling of its core, allowing the solar wind to strip away its atmosphere. This, so the thinking went, caused the water to evaporate into space. However, according to a new study, it appears that the water may still be there, trapped in the pores of volcanic rock. og:url: https://time.com/video/gKfCXi5b/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gKfCXi5b/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mars May Have Far More Water Than We Thought twitter:description: For its first billion or so years, Mars was partly covered in water, as dry ocean basins and riverbeds on its surface now attest. But three billion years ago the planet lost its magnetic field, possibly due to a cooling of its core, allowing the solar wind to strip away its atmosphere. This, so the thinking went, caused the water to evaporate into space. However, according to a new study, it appears that the water may still be there, trapped in the pores of volcanic rock. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gKfCXi5b/poster.jpg?width=720 --- * Science # Mars May Have Far More Water Than We Thought > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Mars May Have Far More Water Than We Thought [Watch (HLS stream): Mars May Have Far More Water Than We Thought](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gKfCXi5b.m3u8) (1:40)  _Published 2024-08-13. For its first billion or so years, Mars was partly covered in water, as dry ocean basins and riverbeds on its surface now attest. But three billion years ago the planet lost its magnetic field, possibly due to a cooling of its core, allowing the solar wind to strip away its atmosphere. This, so the thinking went, caused the water to evaporate into space. However, according to a new study, it appears that the water may still be there, trapped in the pores of volcanic rock._ --- Aug 15, 2024 1:41 AM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Microplastics in Bottled Water At Least 10 Times Worse Than Once Thought](/video/OqOCGC2i/) ### Microplastics in Bottled Water At Least 10 Times Worse Than Once Thought [Was There Water On Mars?](/video/D2PMM67Z/) ### Was There Water On Mars? [Possible Water Flows on Mars](/video/VetpyTGh/) ### Possible Water Flows on Mars --- ## Transcript The purpose of the inside mission was to learn about the evolution of Mars as a planet. When did the crust form, how thick is the crust, how did it differentiate, et cetera. For work that I've been a part of, the most interesting finding is this present one that there is large amounts of liquid water in the subsurface of the planet itself. The liquid water is roughly 11 to 20 kilometers beneath the subsurface, and get in that liquid water would be quite challenging. For example, on Earth You often have to circulate fluids, whether that be liquid water or mud to make drilling a little bit easier. You also need the power capabilities, and you need to bring those things on Mars or make them on the planet. So that will be really challenging. Finding water in liquid form on Mars is important because water affects just about everything about a planet's evolution. In Mars, we get to see a water cycle without humans. We know that water is a key ingredient for life as we know it. And it means that it's potentially habitable in the mid crust of Mars. And so there's just so much to learn when you know where the water went. Mars once looked like Earth, 3 billion years ago, and now it doesn't. It's dry and it's desolate. And so a big question is, where is the water? Where did it go? And so finding it there in the volumes that we found it is really important and exciting. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Mars May Have Far More Water Than We Thought","description":"For its first billion or so years, Mars was partly covered in water, as dry ocean basins and riverbeds on its surface now attest. But three billion years ago the planet lost its magnetic field, possibly due to a cooling of its core, allowing the solar wind to strip away its atmosphere. 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