“Ancient Secrets of Mars: Scientists Discover a 4-Billion-Year-Old Beach That Could Rewrite Planetary History!”
However, a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is now providing more evidence of Mars’ oceans thanks to the discovery of buried beaches across the planet’s surface.
Scientists Find Evidence Of Buried Beaches On Mars
This new study was a joint effort between American and Chinese scientists led by Jianhui Li from Guangzhou University in China. The team analyzed ground imaging data from China’s Zhurong rover, which they claim shows evidence of what they are calling “paleoshorelines” across Mars.
“Through radar data gathered by the Zhurong Rover, we identify extensive dipping deposits in the subsurface of southern Utopia Planitia,” the researchers wrote in the study. “These deposits have structures similar to those of Earth’s coastal sediments. This finding implies the past existence of a large water body, supporting the hypothesis of a past ocean in the northern plains of Mars.”
Hai Liu/Guangzhou UniversityThe Zhurong rover’s landing site.
The Chinese National Space Administration launched Zhurong in 2020, and the rover spent two years actively scanning Mars’ surface in 2021 and 2022. It touched down within Utopia Planitia, a plain within a large impact basin on Mars that stretches more than 2,000 miles in diameter. Satellite data had previously mapped ridges believed to be paleoshorelines across Utopia Planitia, making it the ideal place for Zhurong to start looking.
When they looked at what Zhurong found, the researchers noticed consistencies between Mars’ subsurface material and Earth’s, noting a tilt towards the lowland, or ocean, at an angle similar to that of Earth’s beaches.
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