Recent research suggests that Mars could have once featured sun-kissed sandy beaches alongside gentle waves, a notion supported by a team of international scientists who analysed data from China’s Zhurong Mars rover. This data pointed to potential subsurface rock layers indicative of a long-gone northern ocean.
The Zhurong rover, which landed in 2021 in Utopia Planitia, was designed to investigate signs of ancient water and ice. Equipped with advanced penetrating radar, it was able to examine the Martian subsurface effectively, identifying buried rock formations. Benjamin Cardenas, a geology assistant professor at Penn State University and a contributor to the study, remarked, “We’re discovering landscapes on Mars that resemble ancient beaches and river deltas”. He highlighted evidence of wind, waves, and abundant sand, painting a picture of a once-thriving coastline.
The rover collected data revealing sedimentary structures comparable to Earth’s coastal environments, including what are known as “foreshore deposits.” These distinct formations, which take shape from sediments deposited by tides and waves, align with the idea that Mars housed a dynamic interplay of air and water many millennia ago. When Cardenas and his colleagues compared the Martian radar data with coastal formations found on Earth, they noticed similar dip angles, reinforcing the likelihood of historical oceanic presence on Mars.
Such findings suggest that Mars was significantly wetter in its past, strengthening the theory of a vast ocean that may have enveloped much of the northern region. The insights gained from this study also hint at a period in Martian history, lasting possibly tens of millions of years, where conditions could have been warm and wet enough to potentially support life.
Overall, these discoveries from the Zhurong rover contribute considerably to our understanding of the Martian environment’s evolution, offering tantalising clues about the planet’s past and the feasibility of life beyond Earth.