Scientists have already found plenty of evidence of rivers formerly flowing on MarsOpens in a new tab. But now, a team of researchers has discovered compelling evidence of longstanding riverbeds on the Red PlanetOpens in a new tab. Longstanding riverbeds that most likely flowed for 100,000 years or longer, nearly four billion years ago.
FuturismOpens in a new tab picked up on news of the newfound riverbeds, which are described in a paper recently published in the journal, Nature CommunicationsOpens in a new tab. The authors of the paper, including Dr. Francesco Salese and Dr. William McMahon at the University of Utrecht et al., were sourced from multiple countries across the globe. The group used the HiRISE telescopeOpens in a new tab to make their discovery.
“The study demonstrates sustained river deposition on Mars 3.7 billion years ago,” Salese told Utrecht University newsOpens in a new tab. He added that “Such perennially flowing rivers would require an environment capable of maintaining large volumes of water for extensive time-periods, and almost certainly necessitated a precipitation-driven hydrological cycle.” River depositionOpens in a new tab is the process by which rivers leave behind—or deposit—materials they’re carrying as they lose energy.
The part of Izola mensa where evidence of ancient riverbeds was found. Salese et al.Opens in a new tab
The discovery was made by pointing HiRISE at a sedimentary succession in the Izola mesna region of Hellas, which itself is an impact basin in Mars’ southern hemisphere. (Hellas was formed approximately 4.1 to 3.8 billion years ago, when a protoplanetOpens in a new tab or a large asteroidOpens in a new tab hit Mars.) A sedimentary succession is made up of sedimentary rock that’s been stratified, and can therefore give insight into its geological past.
“[T]he extremely high resolution imagery [taken by HiRISE] allowed us to ‘read’ the rocks…” Salese told Utrecht University news. Salese noted that “the striking similarities” of the Martian sedimentary rock record to that of Earth’s “left little to the imagination” in regards to what caused it.
A 3D render of one of the ancient, dried-up riverbeds on Mars. UUGeosciencesOpens in a new tab
The fact that these ancient, Martian riverbeds have such similar sedimentary succession patterns to long-standing ones on EarthOpens in a new tab also means that they likely flowed year-round. “This kind of evidence, of a long-lived watery landscape,” Salese says, “is crucial in our search for ancient life on the planet.”
Featured Image: UUGeosciencesOpens in a new tab
