Sedimentary mineral deposits discovered on the surface of Mars may be the remains of ancient oceans from 3.5 billion years ago. New results from China's Tianwen-1/Zhulong mission suggest the existence of landforms consistent with the coastline of the southern Utopian Plains, providing further evidence for the existence of a short-lived ocean early in the planet's history.
“The hypothesis of a Martian ocean in the northern lowlands remains an interesting unanswered question about the early stages of Mars' evolution,” said Bo Wu of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and colleagues.
“The presence of an ocean had a major impact on early Mars' climate and atmosphere and may have left a geological record of its existence.”
“China's Mars probe Zhulong, aboard Tianwen-1, successfully landed in the southern part of Mars' Utopia Plain in May 2021.”
“This area has long been hypothesized to be part of an ancient ocean that once covered the northern lowlands.”
In this study, Dr. Wu and his co-authors analyzed data from the Tianwen 1 orbiter and the Zhoulong rover to provide estimates of the surface age and mineral composition of materials found in the southern Utopia Plains. .
They identified distinct geomorphological features, such as valleys and sedimentary channels, consistent with near-shore zones, suggesting a possible formation event involving a flood about 3.68 billion years ago.
In this scenario, a short period of frozen ocean formed the coastline, and the sea surface may have froze and disappeared about 3.42 billion years ago.
“Different types of water-related geomorphological features were separated by specific topographic contours, suggesting different types of marine environments,” the researchers said.
“The area was subdivided into a foreshore highland-to-lowland transition unit, a shallow marine unit, and a deepwater unit.”
“In situ observations of sedimentary rocks, water-related lamination features, and subsurface sedimentary layers also indicate past water activity.”
“The results suggested an evolutionary scenario for the southern Utopian coastal zone: (i) the Late Noachian Utopian Plains flood reached the foreshore approximately 3.65 to 3.68 billion years ago; (ii) The formation of post-Flood shallow and deep marine units occurred during the early Hesperian, approximately 3.5 and 3.4 billion years ago, respectively. completed by 10 million years ago. (iii) Subsurface volatiles gradually disappeared during the Amazonian period.
of study appear in the diary scientific report.
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B. Wu others. 2024. Observations at the Turon landing site reveal an ancient coastal zone believed to be located in the southern part of Mars' utopia. science officer 14, 24389;doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-75507-w
Source: www.sci.news
