Salt on Mars

Images from NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter provided concrete evidence of salt on Mars. Numerous deposits of salt were found in areas that suggest that they were formed by the evaporation of water that once ran freely over the Martian surface. As salt is an excellent preservative for organic material, the salt deposits are another promising place to investigate evidence of life on Mars.¹

Fast Facts

1. Research team led by Mikki Osterloo from the University of Hawaii¹
2. Images captured with THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System), a multi-wavelength camera developed at Arizona State University¹
3. About 200 separate salt deposits were found in the Martian southern hemisphere alone²
4. Deposits are between one to 25 square kilometers in size²
5. Formed about 3.8 billion years ago³
6. Placement suggests that salt deposits formed independently and not from a single body of water¹

Additional Evidence

In June, 2008, the Mars Phoenix Lander discovered possible evidence of salt on Mars. The lander unearthed a whitish material that appeared to evaporate over the course of 24 hours. Scientists believe that this material was either salt or ice.⁴

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