Once upon a time, Mars may have been an attractive vacation place with sandy beaches that stretched along the shores of a vast ocean. This is confirmed by data obtained by the Chinese Zhurong Mars rover, which is currently exploring the surface of the Red Planet. New discoveries suggest that a giant ocean called Deuteronilus existed on Mars more than 3 billion years ago. Like the ancient seas on Earth, this ocean may have been a haven for life. The study was published on February 25 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“We have discovered places on Mars that resemble beaches and river deltas. The finding indicates that conditions favorable for life existed on the Red Planet. We found traces of wind, waves and coastal sand – a real space-style beach vacation,” said Benjamin Cardenas, an associate professor of geology at Pennsylvania State University and co-author of the study.
Ocean meets land
The Zhurong rover landed on Mars in 2021 at Utopia Planitia, one of the planet’s oldest impact basins. Since then, it has been exploring the dried shoreline, scanning the surrounding area for signs of water and ice. Using radar, the rover found layered structures filled with sedimentary rocks that were formed by ocean waves and tides.
“These sediments attracted our attention instantly because they indicate the presence of waves, which means a dynamic interaction between water and air,” Cardenas explains. “On Earth, the earliest life evolved in just such an environment where the ocean met the land. This indicates that an environment suitable for microbial life may have existed on Mars.”
Mars’ landscape a billion years ago
The comparison with Earth’s coastlines helped scientists rule out other possible explanations for the origin of these structures. In contrast to formations due to river flows, wind or volcanic activity, the shape and thickness of these layers are consistent with a specifically coastal origin.
“We can see that the coastline of this ocean has changed over time. Mars is often perceived as a static planet, but it has evolved and developed. Rivers were flowing, sediment was moving, and land was being built and eroded. This type of sedimentary geology can tell us what the landscape looked like, how they evolved, and, importantly, help us identify where we would want to look for past life,” says Cardenas.
Is there life on Mars?
Deuteronilus probably disappeared about a billion years ago. Before its disappearance, however, there was plenty of time for primitive life forms to develop on Mars. But there is no direct evidence for the existence of life on the Red Planet.
Hope for answers may be coming soon. NASA’s Perseverance rover, which has been exploring the Jezero crater since 2021, could already collect samples of Martian soil and even traces of ancient life. NASA initially planned to launch the Mars Sample Return mission in 2026, but due to budget constraints, it was postponed to 2040. Now the agency is looking for ways to accelerate the mission with the help of private companies.
We previously reported on how a powerful greenhouse effect could keep Mars’ ocean from freezing.
