ALBAWABA – Zhurong, China's first rover to land on Mars, is part of the Tianwen-1 mission by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). After previously landing two rovers on the Moon, Zhurong now discovered evidence of past life on Mars, the red planet.
New evidence of past life discovered on the red planet
The Chinese rover, Zhurong, discovered evidence of an ancient ocean on Mars, along with traces of water in the surrounding area. Zhurong landed on Mars in 2021 in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a region that shows signs of ancient life and water sources that existed on Mars around 3.5 billion years ago.
Wu Bo, a professor in spatial science and director of the planetary remote sensing laboratory at PolyU, stated: “The ocean surface was likely frozen in a geologically short period, with liquid water solidified and material deposited by sedimentary load from the water body to form the dry shallow marine unit approximately 3½ billion years ago, and later the dry deep marine unit 3.42 billion years ago.”
Scientists believe that an ocean formed due to a flood about 3.7 billion years ago. This ocean then froze, creating a coastline, and dried up around 3.4 billion years ago. (Shutterstock)
“Existing studies indicate that the pitted cones in the southern Utopia may have originated from mud volcanoes and are often formed in areas with low groundwater or ice content. Polygonal troughs and etched flows can only form when groundwater or ice is relatively rich. Therefore, the study area is considered as a nearshore zone and is further divided into a shallow marine unit with less water or ice content in the south and a deep marine unit with more water or ice content in the north,” Wu added.
It is worth mentioning that the new data collected by Zhurong suggests the presence of a nearby coastline. Scientists believe that an ocean formed due to a flood about 3.7 billion years ago. This ocean then froze, creating a coastline, and dried up around 3.4 billion years ago.
