Once upon a time, Martian bodies of water rolled onto a sandy shore

Scientists have found evidence of an ancient body of water on Mars that was ice-free billions of years ago. This is evidenced by the characteristic wavy lines that form on Earth where waves roll onto the shore for long periods of time.

Undulating shapes on Mars. Source: phys.org

Sandy shore on Mars

Probably everyone is familiar with the characteristic pattern in the form of several rows of parallel wavy lines, which can be seen on the bottom near the shore of the reservoir. Scientists have recently found something similar on Mars and this is important evidence that the fourth planet from the sun was once much more habitable than now.

Scientists discovered the striped pattern in photos taken by the Curiosity rover back in 2022. At that time, it explored the remains of a dried-up lake in Gale Crater. The wavy lines are quite small: only 6 mm high and spaced 4-5 cm apart. However, they indicate that there was once a lake up to 2 meters deep at this location.

Scientists have determined that the lake in the Prow Formation was located 3.7 billion years ago, and it’s already a sensation. However, the rover subsequently discovered another wavy pattern. This time it was located near the Amapari Marker Band rocks, which date to a slightly later time of occurrence than the Prow. This proves that such formations were not isolated and the conditions for their occurrence existed on the red planet for a long time.

Why waves are so important

The fact that Mars more than three billion years ago was warmer and moister than now, the vast majority of scientists have been convinced for quite some time. Back in 2014, the same Curiosity found evidence of a lake that once existed on Mars.

However, there is no consensus among researchers as to how much warmer and moister Mars was compared to the present. It is quite possible that most of the water on its surface was bounded by ice, from under which small streams trickled, and that open bodies of water did not exist.

And now scientists have a wavy pattern. The mechanism of its formation is unambiguous — waves repeatedly rolled over the sandy shore of the lake and moved the soil particles. However, this could only happen if the surface of this lake was free of ice and could be influenced by the wind. So this provides evidence that there were more than just glaciers on Mars at that time.

According to phys.org

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