Jakarta – Evidence unearthed from the Martian surface suggests the Red Planet was a far wetter and more dynamic world than previously understood,especially around 3.7 billion years ago.
A recent study, analyzing ancient, inverted river channels stretching over 9,000 miles (approximately 14,484 kilometers) in the Noachis Terra Selatan region, indicates that Mars experienced a substantially more active geological past.
“New evidence shows that Mars used to be a planet that is far more complex and active than now, which is very captivating to be involved,” stated adam Losekoot, the study’s lead from the British Open University, as quoted by Live Science on Monday, July 21, 2025.
The findings propose that Mars experienced more frequent rainfall than earlier scientific models suggested. Losekoot’s research indicates that surface water may have been stable in Noachis Terra during the noachian-Hesperian transition, a period of meaningful geological and climatic change approximately 3.7 billion years ago.
The study’s focus on the “backs of winding rivers,” identified as inverted ancient river channels, serves as compelling proof of the presence of surface water billions of years ago.
“Studying Mars, especially areas that have not been explored such as Noachis Terra, are very interesting because the habitat has not changed for billions of years. Mars is like a time capsule that records the basic geological processes in an unfeasible way to do the earth,” Losekoot elaborated.
To gather this data, Losekoot and his team utilized instruments including the Context Camera (CTX), the mars Orbiter laser Altimeter (Mola), and the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (Hirise).This facts allowed them to map the location, length, and morphology of ridge systems across a vast area.
The interconnected nature of the hill formations in Noachis Terra suggests that water conditions in this region were relatively long-lasting, implying a sustained warm and wet environment during that geological epoch.
This finding challenges the prevailing theory that Mars was predominantly cold and dry, with its valleys primarily formed by meltwater from sporadic and brief warming events.
(hps/afr)