Data obtained by the Chinese Zhurong Martian rover has revealed what look like sandy beaches from the shoreline of an ancient ocean that may have existed long ago on Mars’s northern plains.
The findings are the latest evidence supporting the hypothesis of an ancient Martian ocean called Deuteronilus some 2.5 to 4 billion years ago. During this time, Mars would have possessed a thick atmosphere with a warmer climate. According to scientists, an ocean with liquid water on Mars could potentially have hosted living organisms very much like early oceans on Earth.
The rover was operational for one year, from May 2021 to May 2022, and covered almost 1.2 miles (1.9 km) in an area that seems to have all the geographical characteristics of an ancient shoreline. The robot was also equipped with land penetrating radar which transmitted high-frequency radio waves that reflected the subsurface features of the planet.
Radar detected material similar to sand, hinting at beaches on Mars
The sand-like material that was detected by the rover is located some 33-115 feet (10-35 meters) underground and is sloped in the same direction as beaches on Earth. Researchers were able to map these structures spanning three-quarters of a mile along the robot’s path.
In a statement, scientist Hai Liu who is a member of China’s Tianwen-1 mission which monitored the rover said, “The Martian surface has changed dramatically over 3.5 billion years, but by using ground-penetrating radar we found direct evidence of coastal deposits that weren’t visible from the surface.”
Mars might have once had sandy beaches and a vast ocean.
Chinese scientists discovered that about 3.6 billion years ago, rivers, beaches, and an ocean covered nearly half of the Red Planet. pic.twitter.com/rSnnP6BeQi
— Cheddar (@cheddar) February 25, 2025
The researchers said that beach deposits of this size on Earth would have taken millions of years to form. This would once again suggest the presence of a large body of water on the red planet.
Researchers claim beaches formed by similar processes to those on Earth
Scientists who have analyzed the beaches of Mars say that the oceans would have profundly influenced the planet’s climate, and the body of water would more likely than not have had waves and tides.
The co-author of the study, Michael Manga from the University of California Berkeley, said “Shorelines are great locations to look for evidence of past life,” adding, “it’s thought that the earliest life on Earth began at locations like this, near the interface of air and shallow water.”
The planets in our solar system, including Earth and Mars, formed some 4.5 billion years ago, which means that Mars’s hypothetical sea, Deuteronilus, would have disappeared almost a billion years into the planet’s existence. Scientists speculate that some of the water could have been lost in space, while large amounts are likely still trapped under the planet’s surface.
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