Mars may have once been a paradise with Earth-like oceans and balmy beaches that would have been ideal for harboring living organisms, according to a new study.
An international team of researchers based at Penn State University have examined data from the layers of soil that comprise the Red Planet’s surface — discovering formations that strongly indicate the presence of an ancient body of water that could have been an idyllic getaway for sun-loving Martians.
“We’re finding places on Mars that used to look like ancient beaches and ancient river deltas,” said Benjamin Cardenas, the study co-author and assistant professor of geology at Penn State.
“We found evidence for wind, waves, no shortage of sand — a proper vacation-style beach.”
The geological data was collected by the Chinese rover on Mars, Zhurong, which landed on the fourth rock from the sun back in 2021 — staking out an area known as the Utopia Planitia, a 2,100 mile area on the upper half of the planet.
Zhurong is outfitted with advanced radar abilities that allow it to penetrate the ground and take measurements of the subsurface of Martian soil in both high and low frequencies.
Researchers, analyzing this data, were able to determine the composition of notable sedimentary deposits — which they found bore striking resemblance to layered soil structures that occur near bodies of water here on Earth.
Specifically, “foreshore deposits,” were discovered — a downwards-sloped sand formation brought about by the working of the tides and waves of a body of water.
“This stood out to us immediately because it suggests there were waves, which means there was a dynamic interface of air and water,” Cardenas said.
“When we look back at where the earliest life on Earth developed, it was in the interaction between oceans and land, so this is painting a picture of ancient habitable environments, capable of harboring conditions friendly toward microbial life,” he added.
Remarkably, the “dip angles” of structures measured on Mars fell within the range of foreshore deposits that develop naturally here on the Blue Planet.
“We tend to think about Mars as just a static snapshot of a planet, but it was evolving,” Cardenas said.
“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.”
As researchers look for signs of life in Mars’ ancient past, engineers and politicians are seeking to manifest life on Mars in the near future.
Last month, President Trump vowed to put a US astronaut on Mars during his term in office, promising to plant the Stars and Stripes on red soil, with the help of SpaceX boss Elon Musk.
