Scientists say they have made the most accurate measurements yet of the amount of ice lodged at the south pole of the planet Mars - and it is a huge amount.
Experts at the U.S. space agency, NASA, are working with the Italian space agency and data collected from the "Mars Express" space orbiter to examine the amount of ice at Mars's south pole.
The deposits are more than three and a half kilometers thick in places. If melted, the ice deposits could cover the entire red planet's surface with 11 meters of water.
The scientists also are working to measure the depth of the north pole of Mars.
But they say no matter what they find at the poles, it would not be enough to explain the appearance of water-carved irregularities in the planet's surface - leading to speculation the rest of the water might have gone somewhere underground.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.