This is pretty freakin’ amazing!
The First Look at Mars’ Ocean.
We knew there was water in abundance on Mars, but we never saw its ocean. This is it, as uncovered by strong new evidence found over the course of two years by the MARSIS radar on board ESA’s Mars Express.
Before this discovery, scientists suspected what could have been the shorelines of such ocean. However, this is the first time that this Mars’ ocean has been shown in all its magnitude. According to ESA, Mars Express “has detected sediments reminiscent of an ocean floor within the boundaries of previously identified, ancient shorelines on Mars.”
The sediments are low-density granular material that have been eroded away by water. They have low radar reflectivity, and were detected through all the ocean’s area, 60 to 80 meters (197 to 262 feet) under the surface of the Red Planet.
Read more at the link.
Related articles
- Mars Express spaceship finds traces of oceans that once covered red planet’s surface (dailymail.co.uk)
- Martian real estate, windy and cratered but isolated (newscientist.com)
- Mars Express reveals wind-blown deposits on Mars (physorg.com)
- Mars Express reveals wind-blown deposits on Mars (spacefellowship.com)
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