Ancient lake could have been last site for martian life

The continuing search to find life-sustaining elements on Mars may have resulted in a promising find.

A recent study documents the discovery of salt deposits from an ancient lake which could have been home to some of the planet's last living organisms.

Scientists have dated the presence of liquid water there to about 3.6 billion years ago which is about 200 million years later than previous estimates of its last existence on Mars.

The theory is that as Mars became colder with less atmospheric pressure, any remaining water receded and froze at the poles.

See photos from the Curiosity rover on Mars:

Brian Hynek, a research associate at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU-Boulder and lead author of the study, explains, "Having a later stage of water on Mars is probably a good thing for the potential for life on that planet because it gave life more time to be conceived."

Other encouraging signs include salinity levels estimated to have been about eight percent of that found in Earth's oceans which is within range of sustaining life.

The 18-square mile expanse of chloride is located in an area called Meridiani, close to where the Mars Opportunity rover landed but out of its driving distance.