Thirsty rocks drank all water from Mars: Scientists

New Delhi : Rocks at Mars planet could be a reason behind water disappearing from the planet, said scientists with new findings in a study. 

Researchers proposed on Wednesday that most of the water has been locked inside the stones. Earlier, it was claimed that the solar winds took all of water into the space due to unstable magnetic field on the planet.

Huge amount of water being carried away by solar winds was found to be an unreasonable explanation, forcing researchers to do a deep study on the Red planet surface.

"The results revealed that the basalt rocks on Mars can hold approximately 25 percent more water than those on Earth, and as a result drew the water from the Martian surface into its interior," said a statement from Oxford University, where scientists took part in the study.

As on Earth, chemical weathering and hydrothermal reactions can change minerals in rock from dry to water-bearing, study co-author Jon Wade of Oxford told AFP.

But Martian rock, because of a different composition, is much better at doing so.

Such rocks may have soaked in water from the planet.

The latest findings from the study have been published in the journal Nature.