Martian Ocean Once Ended In 'Vacation-Style' Beaches: Study

Over the past decade or so, research has consistently pointed to a long-gone ocean that once covered a chunk of Mars’ surface. But what did that ocean look like? According to researchers in the United States and China, the Red Planet’s seas likely ended in “vacation-style” beaches, complete with sandy shores, brisk breezes, and gentle waves. These conditions could have even made the planet’s surface favorable to microbial life.
The study, published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, uses data from China’s Zhurong Rover Penetrating Radar to examine Mars’ ancient shoreline. Since touching down in Utopia Planitia, a vast plain in the planet’s northern hemisphere, in May 2021, the Zhurong rover has used electromagnetic waves to scan the geography that lies beneath the surface. The time delay and strength of the reflected waves reveal Mars’ subsurface composition—including, according to the paper, slanted layers of material that suggest the existence of a bygone shoreline.
This prograded geography features a multi-tiered structure similar to that found on Earth’s beaches. Called foreshore deposits, the layers that make up this structure slope downwards toward oceans and are sculpted by sediments that brush back and forth, driven by waves and tides. The gentle grade found on Mars implies that lapping waves—not aggressive river flows or volcanic activity—shaped the shoreline over time.
“We found evidence for wind, waves, no shortage of sand—a proper, vacation-style beach,” said study co-author and Pennsylvania State University geologist Benjamin Cardenas.
Cardenas’ team’s findings align with previous research that points to the existence of a liquid Martian ocean billions of years ago. That ocean, which covered roughly 20% of the planet’s surface, is thought to have evaporated when Mars lost its atmosphere. Just recently, scientists in the United Kingdom discovered via geomorphological and spectroscopic data that Mars’ dichotomy (the topographical line between its northern and southern hemispheres) might have been eroded by water before the ocean vanished; now, there’s even more evidence to suggest that the ocean played a role in carving the planet’s dips and drops.
While the Red Planet’s beach wasn’t exactly spring break-worthy—unless massive amounts of cosmic radiation are your idea of a good time—there’s a chance it offered the kind of conditions microbial life would find useful. Unless Mars really does continue to harbor liquid water, that life wouldn’t exist anymore. But scientists are still highly interested in discovering whether the planet was once home to microscopic ETs.
“When we look back at where the earliest life on Earth developed, it was in the interaction between oceans and land,” Cardenas said, “so this is painting a picture of ancient habitable environments, capable of harboring conditions friendly toward microbial life.”
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