There were beaches and even an ocean! Scientists found indisputable evidence of water on Mars

According to new research, Mars, which is now deserted, was once so rich in water that it had not just lakes but also oceans. An international team of scientists used data from China's Zhurong rover to reveal hidden layers of rock beneath the planet's surface that strongly suggest the existence of an ancient northern ocean with a sandy beach about 3.5-4 billion years ago.

This is one of the best proofs to date that Mars was once habitable. According to scientists, an ocean of liquid water on the surface of the Red Planet could potentially be a haven for living organisms, similar to the primitive seas of early Earth, Reuters writes.

The Zhurong rover, which operated from May 2021 to May 2022, traveled approximately 1.9 km in an area that shows surface features indicative of an ancient coastline. Its georadar explored depths of up to 80 meters, scientists say.

Radar images revealed approximately 10-35 meters of underground thick layers of material with sand-like properties. Interestingly, they are all tilted in the same direction and at an angle similar to beaches on Earth directly underwater where the sea meets the land.

"The surface of Mars has changed dramatically over 3.5 billion years, but using ground penetrating radar, we found direct evidence of coastal sediments that were not visible from the surface," said Hai Liu, a planetary scientist at Guangzhou University.

Experts say the ocean, which they call Deuteronilus, existed at a time when Mars, now cold and desolate, had a thicker atmosphere and warmer climate.

"The beaches were formed by similar processes to those on Earth - waves and tides. Such oceans could have had a profound effect on Mars' climate, shaping its landscape and creating an environment potentially suitable for life to emerge and thrive," added Liu, who is one of the study's leaders.

"Coastlines are great places to look for evidence of past life. It is believed that the earliest life on Earth originated in places like this, near the air-shallow water interface," said geophysicist Michael Manga of the University of California, Berkeley, according to ScienceAlert.

Recent research by Manga and his colleagues suggests that much of Mars' water could have been absorbed into its interior, where it is now hidden in the form of huge, inaccessible reservoirs of liquid.

The next step for scientists will be to further explore the idea of liquid oceans and try to model these alien waves and tides.

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