Scientists discover marine rocks on Mars that suggest an ancient ocean

A team of Chinese researchers has found for the first time evidence of marine sedimentary rocks on the surface of Marswhich supports the hypothesis that the red planet harbored an ancient ocean in its northern plain.

The finding is based on analysis of data from the multispectral camera of the Zhurong Mars rover, which landed in the Utopia Planitia crater in May 2021, the Xinhua news agency reported today.

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According to an article published in the National Science Review magazine, scientists from the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan They observed that the bedrock structures of the exposed rocks were different from the common volcanic rocks and eolian sands that dominate the Martian surface.

In addition, they identified bidirectional flow features that indicate tidal influence in a shallow coastal and oceanic environment.

These features are consistent with those found in marine sedimentary rocks on Earth, suggesting that they formed by the deposition and compaction of water-borne sediments.

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The researchers consider this discovery to be direct and compelling evidence for the existence of an ancient ocean on Mars, which could have covered much of its northern hemisphere around 3.5 billion years ago.

In recent years, Beijing has invested heavily in its space program, achieving successes such as the Chang’e 4 lunar probe, which landed on the far side of the Moon in January 2019, a milestone never achieved in the history of space. space exploration.

In turn, the Asian giant aspires to collect samples from the surface of Mars before 2030, after becoming the third country -after the United States and the extinct Soviet Union- to land on land.

Source: Elcomercio

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