Data of soil penetration radar obtained by the ROVER ZHURONG from China, revealed evidence buried under the Martian surface that resembles sandy beaches the coastline of a great ocean which may have existed for a long time in the northern plains of Mars.
The findings are further evidence that supports the existence of this hypothetical ocean, called Deuteronilus, which would have existed approximately 3.5 to 4 billion years ago, at a time when Mars – today cold and desolate – had a thicker atmosphere and one warmer climate.
According to scientists, an ocean of liquid water on the Martian surface could have sheltered living organisms, as well as the primary seas of early earth.
The Rover, which operated from May 2021 to May 2022, traveled about 1.9 kilometers in a region that has surface characteristics suggestive of an old coastline. Its soil penetration radar, which emitted high frequency radio waves in the underground and recorded echoes reflected by underground structures, investigated up to 80 meters below the surface.
Radar images detected, between 10 and 35 meters deep, thick layers of material with properties similar to the sand, all inclined in the same direction and at an angle similar to the land beaches just below the water line, where the sea finds the earth. The researchers mapped these structures over approximately 1.2 kilometers along the Rover.
“The Martian surface has changed dramatically over 3.5 billion years, but when using soil penetration radar, we find direct evidence of non -surface coastal deposits,” said planetary scientist Hai Liu of the University of Guangzhou, a member of the scientific team of China’s Tianwen-1 mission, which included Rover.
On Earth, beach deposits of this size would take millions of years to graduate, the researchers said, suggesting that Mars had a large long -term water body, with wave action by distributing sediments transported by rivers that flowed from nearby land.
“The beaches would have been formed by processes similar to those of the earth-waves and tides,” said Liu, one of the study leaders published on Monday in the magazine Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Such oceans would have profoundly influenced the climate of Mars, shaped its landscape and created environments potentially suitable for the emergence and development of life.”
“The coastal lines are great places to look for evidence of past life,” said planetary scientist and co -author of the study Michael Manga, from the University of California, Berkeley. “It is believed that the most primitive life forms on earth have emerged in places like this, at the interface between air and shallow waters.”
Rover explored the southern part of Planitia utopia, a vast plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars. The researchers discarded other possible explanations for the structures detected by Zhurong.
“A fundamental part of this work was to test these other hypotheses. We consider the possibility of wind -formed dunes, but there were some questions. First, they tend to form in groups, and these groups create characteristic patterns that were not present in these deposits, ”said Benjamin Cardinas, a geoscientist of Penn State and co -author of the study.
“We also assess the hypothesis of old rivers, which exist in some regions near Mars, but we discarded it for the same reasons, based on the patterns observed in the deposits. In addition, structures like these do not usually form in lava flows. The beaches simply fit the observations better, ”said Cardinas.
Earth, Mars and the other planets of the solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago. This means that the Deuteronilus Ocean would have disappeared about one billion years after the emergence of Mars, when the planet’s climate changed dramatically. According to scientists, part of the water may have been lost in space, while large amounts may remain imprisoned underground.
One study Published last year, based on seismic data obtained by NASA by NASA’s Robotic Module, suggested the existence of a huge high -depth liquid water reservoir under the Martian surface within fractured igneous rocks.
For decades, scientists have used satellite images to map out the Martian surface features that resemble a coastal line. However, any visible evidence on the surface may have been deleted or distorted by billions of years of erosion by wind or other geological processes.
This is not the case with newly discovered structures, which were gradually buried under material deposited by dust storms, meteorites impacts or volcanic activity.
“They are magnificently preserved because they are still buried in the Martian underground,” said Cardenas.
Mars moons may have been born of the destruction of asteroid
This content was originally published in Chinese Rover finds ancient beach evidence on the surface of Mars on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
