New research suggests that Mars once was the perfect holiday destination (if they were willing to overlook radiation exposure or lack of food sources), but also had the right conditions for alien life. why? The discovery of ancient sandy beaches on the red planet suggests that once a large liquid ocean spread across the north of the planet.
The research team behind the research from China and the US is This ancient coastline is the clearest evidence yet The Red Planet was previously habitable.
“Looking back at the places where the earliest life on Earth developed, it was in the interaction between the ocean and the land, which paints a picture of an ancient habitable environment that can embrace the conditions for microbial life,” he said. Benjamin Cardenasassistant professor of geology at Penn State University in the United States and co-author of the study.
Four billion years ago, these beaches would have been the best variety. The waves are softly wrapped sandy and immersed in the sun.
“We found evidence of a lack of wind, waves and sand. It’s a proper vacation style beach,” says Cardenas, whose research was published. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (pnas).
To find this, researchers used a probe up to 80m (260 feet) below the Mars surface in a region of North Mars called the Utopian Plain, using radar imaging, using a probe up to 80m (260 feet) below the Mars surface.
We discovered 76 hidden structures at depths of 10-35m (33-115ft). Sadly, this turned out to be not a mysterious alien infrastructure (we can dream of it), but rather a sedimentary deposit similar to what is found around the Earth’s coastline.
The structure, thickness and length of Martian sediments showed that they were not formed by the melting of rivers, winds, lava or ice, but rather by stable ancient seas. In fact, they were roughly the same as 21 people on Earth, including the Bay of Bengal.
Specifically, a formation called “foreshore sediments” is formed by the tide and wind that descends the slope towards the ocean at a 15° angle and carries sediments like sand and gravel.
“This quickly stood out to us because it suggested there were waves, meaning there was a dynamic interface between air and water,” Cardenas said. This interaction, which also took place in the early history of the Earth, is important for the beginning of life.
The discovery suggests that Mars had a warm, humid climate for tens of millions of years.
“We tend to think of Mars as a static snapshot of the planet, but it was evolving. The rivers were flowing, the sediment was moving, the land was built and eroding,” Cardenas said.
“This type of sedimentary geology tells us how the landscape looks, how they evolved, and, importantly, helps us identify where we want to look for our past life.”
read more:
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- Here’s how aliens actually get in touch with humanity
Source: www.sciencefocus.com
