SCMP reported that data from China's Zhu Zung Mars rover from the Tianjin 1 mission provided clues about the coastline of an ancient ocean that briefly existed on the surface of Mars about 3.5 billion years ago.
The collected data shows that the ancient ocean may have left behind rock sediments on the Martian surface 3.5 billion years ago, according to a new study by scientists from Hong Kong University of Science (China) PolyU, the Chinese Institute of Space Technology and the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In 2021, the Chuc Dung rover began exploring the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a large plains in the northern Hemisphere of Mars - which is believed to be part of the ancient ocean that once covered the northern lowlands of the red planet.
Scientists found that the southern Utopia Planitia is divided into three parts with different depths, including a shallow sea part and a deep sea part, supporting the theory that the area was once covered by sea.
The discovery of sedimentary rock and the layering of the rock and sediment are also signs of " past water activity," scientists said in a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports on November 1.
The team is the first to propose a scenario that could explain how the ocean forms, says Wu Bo, a professor of space science and director of the hanh tinh remote sensing lab at PolyU.
Based on analysis of sensor and observation data from the Chuc Dung rover, the research team estimates that flooding in Utopia Planitia occurred about 3.68 billion years ago.
After the ocean froze for a short time, forming a coastline, the ocean surface may have frozen and disappeared about 3.42 billion years ago, Wu explained.
NASA's Viking 2 mission landed in the Utopia Planitia region in 1976 and maped the surface of the region.
For decades, scientists have studied the possibility of an ocean in the northern lowlands of Mars - a hypothesis that could reveal the secrets to the early humans'evolution and how water influenced Mars' climate and atmosphere.
In the latest study, researchers have identified features that are consistent with the near shore area of an ancient ocean, including volcanic-like conical hat structures, polygonal ditches and flows on the Martian surface.
Current studies show that volcanic-like structures in southern Utopia may originate from mud volcanoes and are often formed in areas with low groundwater or ice content, Wu said.
Wu said the team will try to test how water-related properties on Mars form and estimate the depth of the seas. Comparing shallow and deep areas will help verify the ocean model they point to.
