In short:
New research explores the previously unknown relationship between shallow surface trenches on the Nullarbor Plain and the caves underneath.
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research → explore → Plain
Researchers say it could shed light on cave systems in other environments, including on other planets.
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it → say → planets
The findings could be used to search shallow surface trenches on other planets for extraterrestrial life.
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findings → use → life
Caves under the Nullarbor Plain could hold the answer to finding life on Mars, according to new research.
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Caves → hold → research
Hidden beneath the more than 200,000-square-kilometre Nullarbor Plain is a series of complex cave systems, which have eroded over millions of years.
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which → hide → years
Largely inaccessible from the surface, the cave systems have been relatively understudied.
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systems → understudy → surface
Now, researchers have found a relationship between the vast trenches on the surface and the presence of underground caves.
"These trenches actually represent the surface footprint of caves that are much, much deeper and may not actually reach the surface just yet," researcher Milo Barham told ABC North and West Breakfast's Tom Mann.
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Barham → find → Mann
An associate professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Curtin University, Dr Barham said satellite modelling and aerial photography had been vital in understanding the trenches, which were largely invisible to the naked eye.
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which → say → eye
"These [trenches] could be 20km long … they could be hundreds of metres wide, but they're only a couple of metres deep," Dr Barham said.
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Barham → say → metres
"When you're standing there, that just blends into the subtleties of the landscape.
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that → stand → landscape
But when you actually then investigate a bit more, there's something more to it.
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you → investigate → it
"
The previously unknown relationship between these shallow trenches and the caves underneath could shed light on cave systems in other environments, including on other planets.
Is there life on Mars?
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relationship → shed → Mars
The Nullarbor's cave system is an example of a karst terrain; a landscape formed when soluble rocks are dissolved.
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rocks → form → terrain
These terrains make up about 15 per cent of Earth's ice-free land, and potentially similar landscapes have been identified on other planets, including Mars.
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landscapes → make → Mars
Dr Barham said the knowledge gained from the Nullarbor caves could be applied around the world.
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knowledge → say → world
"Twenty-five per cent of the world's population draws water from these karst aquifers.
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cent → draw → aquifers
So, understanding where these kinds of empty spaces are in the subsurface is important for understanding where we're getting water," he said.
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he → understand → water
But the formula could come in handy in the hunt for extraterrestrial life as well.
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formula → come → life
"People have said that these cave systems on other planets actually represent the best place to go looking for life because of their more stable conditions, and essentially protection from that radiation bombardment," Dr Barham said.
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Barham → say → bombardment
"[We might be] able to use the learning from the Nullarbor to be able to find these subtle features on other planets, and maybe use them as a target to go looking for life.
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We → use → life
"The same radiation protection is important for our astronauts, so potentially these cave systems are the sites that we should go to if we are looking for those bases off-world.
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we → go → world
"
A special place for many
Across their Nullarbor studies, the researchers have regularly collaborated with Steve Milner, a field scientist and speleologist who has been exploring far-west South Australia and the Nullarbor for more than 30 years.
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who → collaborate → years
He said the surface trenches were the result of "the collapse of the deep systems below".
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trenches → say → systems
"Those voids underground are actually slowly working their way up to the surface, in geological time, not in our lifetimes, probably," Dr Milner said.
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Milner → work → lifetimes
The new research is the latest in the expansive knowledge hidden inside the Nullarbor Plains, he said.
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he → hide → Plains
It extends over 200,000 square kilometres, extends 850km by 450km, and there's so many interesting things there," Dr Milner said.
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Milner → extend → km
"There's the hidden evidence of climate change, there's bones of animals that are long extinct, telling the story of past habitats.
"
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that → be → habitats
The Aporia