Evidence Of Ancient Ocean Found On Mars, Indicate The Planet May Have Once Be Hospitable

A group of researchers have found evidence of a vast ocean, which they said existed on the surface of the red planet 3.5 billion years ago. The researchers at Pennsylvania State University recently released a set of topography, according to a press release by the institution published on October 27. They believe that the maps offer an ideal scenario that the planet once experienced sea-level rise consistent with an extended warm and wet climate, not the harsh, frozen, dry and dusty landscape that exists today.

"What immediately comes to mind as one the most significant points here is that the existence of an ocean of this size means a higher potential for life," said Benjamin Cardenas, assistant professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University and lead author on the study recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 

"It also tells us about the ancient climate and its evolution. Based on these findings, we know there had to have been a period when it was warm enough and the atmosphere was thick enough to support this much liquid water at one time," he continued.

The research team used software developed by the United States Geological Survey to map data from NASA and the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter. They discovered over 6,500 kilometers of fluvial ridges, which seem to have been carved out by rivers. and grouped them into 20 systems to show that the ridges are likely eroded river deltas or submarine-channel belts.

"The big, novel thing that we did in this paper was think about Mars in terms of its stratigraphy and its sedimentary record," Mr Cardenas added.

They used data from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter collected in 2007 and applied an analysis of ridge thicknesses, angles and locations to understand the topographical depression also called the Aeolis Dorsa region on the red planet.

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"The rocks in Aeolis Dorsa capture some fascinating information about what the ocean was like," the professor said. "It was dynamic. The sea level rose significantly. Rocks were being deposited along its basins at a fast rate. There was a lot of change happening here."

He believes the area could also contain evidence of life on Mars. "What immediately comes to mind as one the most significant points here is that the existence of an ocean of this size means a higher potential for life," says Cardenas.