Evidence found of lake on Mars

A long, deep canyon and the remains of beaches are perhaps the clearest evidence yet of a standing lake on the surface of Mars, say scientists.

Images from a camera called the High Resolution Imaging indicate water carved a 50 kilometre long canyon.

The presence of water on Mars is widely accepted. The Mars Phoenix mission last year found frozen water on the surface of Mars, and there is also evidence that water may still seep to the surface from underground.

Planetary scientists have also seen what could be the shores of giant rivers and seas, but some of the formations could also arguably have been made by dry landslides.

The researcher says that this is the first unambiguous evidence of shorelines on the surface of Mars.