Evidence of ancient underground water reveals Mars may have stayed habitable longer than believed

Abu Dhabi, UAE, November 12, 2025: Scientists from New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) have uncovered new evidence that water once flowed beneath the surface of Mars, revealing that the planet may have remained habitable for life much longer than previously thought.

The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets, shows that ancient sand dunes in Gale Crater, a region explored by NASA’s Curiosity rover, gradually turned into rock after interacting with underground water billions of years ago.

Led by Dimitra Atri, Principal Investigator of NYUAD’s Space Exploration Laboratory, with research assistant Vignesh Krishnamoorthy, the research team compared data from the Curiosity rover with rock formations in the UAE desert that formed under similar conditions on Earth.

They found that water from a nearby Martian mountain once seeped into the dunes through tiny cracks, soaking the sand from below and leaving behind minerals such as gypsum, the same mineral found in Earth’s deserts. These minerals can trap and preserve traces of organic material, making them valuable targets for future missions seeking evidence of past life.

“Our findings show that Mars didn’t simply go from wet to dry,” said Atri. “Even after its lakes and rivers disappeared, small amounts of water continued to move underground, creating protected environments that could have supported microscopic life.”

The discovery provides new insight into how Mars evolved over time and highlights the potential of subsurface environments as promising sites to search for signs of ancient life.

Supported by the NYUAD Research Institute, the study was conducted at NYUAD’s Center for Astrophysics and Space Science, which leads innovative research to advance understanding of the universe and contribute to the UAE’s growing role in global space exploration. This study was conducted in collaboration with James Weston of NYUAD’s Core Technology Platform and Panče Naumov’s research group. 

Times Higher Education ranks NYU among the world’s top 31 universities, making NYU Abu Dhabi the highest globally ranked university in the UAE. Alumni achievements include 24 Rhodes Scholars, underscoring the caliber of talent nurtured at the University. On the faculty and research front, NYUAD now has four Nobel Laureates and established more than 90 faculty labs and projects, producing over 9,500 internationally recognized publications. According to the Nature Index, NYUAD ranks number one in the UAE for publications in the world’s top science journals.

ENDS 

About NYU Abu Dhabi

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NYU Abu Dhabi is the first comprehensive liberal arts and research campus in the Middle East to be operated abroad by a major American research university. Times Higher Education ranks NYU among the top 31 universities in the world, making NYU Abu Dhabi the highest globally ranked university in the UAE. NYU Abu Dhabi has integrated a highly selective undergraduate curriculum across the disciplines with a world center for advanced research and scholarship. The university enables its students in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and arts to succeed in an increasingly interdependent world and advance cooperation and progress on humanity’s shared challenges. NYU Abu Dhabi’s high-achieving students have come from over 120 countries and speak over 100 languages. Together, NYU's campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai form the backbone of a unique global university, giving faculty and students opportunities to experience varied learning environments and immersion in other cultures at one or more of the numerous study-abroad sites NYU maintains on six continents.