However, evidence has been found that suggests that 3.5 billion years ago, the surface of Mars contained vast oceans, perhaps hundreds of thousands of square kilometers.
As evidence of this, many satellite images of the surface of Mars have confirmed the characteristic coastal topography. Relief maps can be created by taking these images at slightly different angles.
The researchers mapped more than 6,500 kilometers of river ridges that were likely carved by rivers, likely eroding river deltas and undersea channel belts. was shown.
“The most novel part of this work is thinking of Mars in terms of its stratigraphic and sedimentary record,” says Benjamin Cardenas, a geoscientist at Penn State University.
“On Earth, we trace the history of waterways by examining the sediments that have accumulated over many years. We call this ‘stratigraphy.’ The idea is that water carries sediment, and by understanding how sediment stacks, we can measure changes on Earth. That’s what’s happening here, on Mars.
Based on data observed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2007, they analyzed the thickness, angle, and position of ridges and investigated a topographic depression called the Aeolian-Dorsa region on Mars.
The area likely underwent a major change years ago,” Cardenas explains. This is indicated by significant sea level rises and evidence of rapid movement of rocks by rivers and rivers. Aeolis Dorsa now has the densest river ridges on Mars.
All of this has to do with the search for life on Mars. One of the most fundamental questions scientists have about the red planet is whether there was ever an environment suitable for life.
“The most important point that immediately comes to mind here is that the existence of an ocean of this size means that the potential for life is greater,” Cardenas says.
“We can also learn about ancient climates and their evolution. Based on these findings, there was a time when the atmosphere was warm and thick enough to support this amount of liquid water. I knew it was supposed to be.”
Researchers do not stop in the Aeolis-Dorsa region.
In another study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, the same researchers, including Cardenas, used acoustic imaging techniques used to map the ancient seafloor of the Gulf of Mexico as water eroded the surface of Mars. Applied to a possible model.
There are vast areas of what appear to be river ridges scattered around Mars, and the team’s simulations show a striking resemblance to the shape of the Red Planet’s terrain, suggesting that there was once ample water.
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