Jakarta –
According to planetary scientists, Mars was once a planet of rivers. The reason is that ancient river deposits are found all over Mars and can be identified in satellite data through erosional landforms called fluvial ridges.
These fluvial ridges are in the form of ancient river deposits. This feature on the planet Mars is useful for understanding the history of water on the Red Planet. However, NASA’s Curiosity rover in Gale Crater, Mars, has observed river deposits that are not associated with fluvial ridges, but rather landforms that are generally not associated with ancient river deposits.
In a study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, planetary scientists modified a computer model that depicts fluvial ridges of ancient river deposits. The model shows landforms that can be used as indicators of the presence of ancient river deposits in craters on Mars, similar to fluvial ridges.
“We found evidence that Mars is most likely a river planet. We see signs of it all over the planet,” said Dr Benjamin Cardenas, a researcher at Pennsylvania State University, as quoted by Sci.News.
“We have a lot to learn about Mars, by better understanding how these river deposits can be interpreted stratigraphically and considering today’s rocks as layers of sediment that were deposited over time,” he explained.
“This analysis is not just a snapshot, but a record of change. What we see on Mars today are the remains of active geological history, not a landscape frozen in time,” he added.
It is estimated that there are more rivers
Previous studies of satellite data from Mars identified erosional landforms called fluvial ridges as possible ancient river deposits.
Using data collected by the Curiosity rover at Gale Crater, Dr Cardenas and colleague Dr Kaitlyn Stacey found signs of river deposits that are not associated with fluvial ridges, but rather landforms that have never been associated with ancient river deposits.
“This suggests that there may be river deposits that have not been discovered elsewhere on the planet and that a larger part of the Martian sedimentary record may have been formed by rivers during historical periods when Mars was habitable,” explained Dr Cardenas.
“On Earth, river corridors are very important for life, chemical cycles, nutrient cycles and sediment cycles. All of this suggests that these rivers behave similarly on Mars,” he said.
In designing their computer model, the researchers discovered new uses for scanning the Earth’s stratigraphy. Collected by oil companies, scans beneath the seabed of the Gulf of Mexico provide an ideal comparison with Mars.
The scientists simulated Mars-like erosion using 3D scans of actual stratigraphy recorded on Earth. When they ran simulations, the model revealed an erosional landscape of Mars that was not a fluvial ridge, which appeared nearly identical to the landscape observed by the Curiosity rover inside Gale crater.
“Our research shows that Mars may have had more rivers than previously believed, which certainly provides a more optimistic picture of ancient life on Mars,” said Dr Cardenas.
“This offers a picture of Mars where most of the planet once had conditions suitable for life,” he concluded.
Watch the video “Planet Mars Rotates Faster, Scientists Are Confused”
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2023-10-28 12:00:00
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