Giant glaciers of ice may be lurking all over Mars , hidden from view by dust on the surface . That ’ s the surprising conclusion of a study that found that large amounts of ice were not just at the Martian poles , but likely towards the equator as well . It means that , if all ice were to be spread across the surface of Mars , the entire planet would be covered in more than 3.3ft ( one metre ) . This image from Nasa 's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows that a thick layer of dust on Mars covers the glaciers , so they appear as the surface of the ground , but radar measurements show that there are glaciers composed of frozen water underneath the dust . The latest research was carried out by scientists at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen and published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters . Evidence of water on Mars dates back to the Mariner 9 mission , which arrived in 1971 . It revealed clues of water erosion in river beds and canyons as well as weather fronts and fogs . Viking orbiters that followed caused a revolution in our ideas about water on Mars by showing how floods broke through dams and carved deep valleys . Mars is currently in the middle of an ice age , so liquid water can not exist on its surface at the present time . However , the planet seems to have been warmer and wetter in the past . In June 2013 , Curiosity found powerful evidence that water good enough to drink once flowed on Mars . In September , the first scoop of soil analysed by Curiosity revealed that fine materials on the surface of the planet contain two per cent water by weight . Images from several Martian satellites had revealed the shape of glaciers just below the surface , and confirmed most were made of water-ice . And now the researchers have measured how big the glaciers are , and their similarity to glaciers on Earth . In total there is more than 150 billion cubic metres of ice on Mars , which could ‘ cover the entire surface of Mars with 1.1 metres of ice , ’ explained Dr Nanna Bjørnholt Karlsson at the Centre for Ice and Climate at the Niels Bohr Institute . She added that the ice closer to the Martian equator was ‘ an important part of Mars ’ water reservoir. ’ There are thought to be thousands of glacier-like formations on the planet in both the northern and southern hemispheres . They are located on Mars between latitude 30.0 and 50.0 - equivalent to just south of Denmark ’ s location on Earth . Mars has belts of glaciers at its central latitudes - between the blue lines , in both the southern and northern hemispheres . A thick layer of dust covers the glaciers , so they appear as the surface of the ground , but radar measurements show that there are glaciers composed of frozen water underneath the dust . Using radar measurements ( shown ) from Nasa 's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter , researchers have been able to identify thousands of glacier-like formations on Mars . They can see how thick the ice is on the radar images . As the ice has not evaporated into space , the dust must be protecting it . If the ice were unprotected , it would evaporate and become water vapour , owing to the low atmospheric pressure on Mars . ‘ We have looked at radar measurements spanning ten years back in time to see how thick the ice is and how it behaves , ’ Dr Nanna Bjørnholt Karlsson explained . ‘ A glacier is after all a big chunk of ice and it flows and gets a form that tells us something about how soft it is . ‘ We then compared this with how glaciers on Earth behave and from that we have been able to make models for the ice flow. ’ The latest research was carried out by scientists at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen and published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters . They looked at how big the glaciers were , and also how similar they were to glaciers on Earth ( one in Alaska shown ) Nasa ’ s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter , artist 's illustration shown , launched on 12 August 2005 . It entered Martian orbit on 10 March 2006 , and continues to remain operational today . It is tasked with imaging the surface , and also monitors weather and surface conditions on Mars .
Martian scientists studied ice hidden under the surface of Mars . Dust is thought to be covering huge glaciers on the surface . And the researchers say there is more water-ice than anticipated . If spread out it would cover the surface in 3.6ft ( 1.1 metres ) of ice .