Marten was an ocean

2000/02/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

A planetary geologist at Brown University, thanks to the numerous topographical measurements made, has discovered proof that they were the oceans of Mars. These measurements have been made through the laser altimeter that circulated inside the probe "Mars Global Surveyor", according to which hundreds of millions of years ago there was an ocean on the Martian surface. For a long time we know that on Mars there was water, since on its surface there are channels formed by great currents. But if the waters of these currents accumulated or not in oceanic form, it has not been known until now. According to scientists, numerous evidences have been obtained that demonstrate the existence of the ocean, such as remains of the coast in the geological layers, sedimentation remains and topological tests. In addition, the mass of water that the discovered ocean would store coincides with the alleged amount of water that existed on Mars.

If there was an ocean on Mars, life might appear on it. Therefore, this discovery can stimulate numerous research to analyze the causes and consequences of climate change suffered by the Red Planet.