February 25, 2025 1:08 PM

Evidence of beaches from ancient Martian ocean detected by Chinese rover

Ground-penetrating radar data obtained by China's Zhurong rover has revealed buried beneath the Martian surface evidence of what look like sandy beaches from the shoreline of a large ocean that may have existed long ago on the northern plains of Mars. The findings are the latest evidence indicating the existence of this hypothesized ocean, called Deuteronilus, roughly 3.5 to 4 billion years ago, a time when Mars - now cold and desolate - possessed a thicker atmosphere and warmer climate. An oce...