China's Mars Rover Finds Recent Evidence of Water Near the Equator

Key Highlights :

1. The surface of Mars is a pretty desolate place at first glance, but there's ample evidence that the planet was once much warmer and wetter.

2. Over time, as Mars' atmosphere was slowly stripped away, much of this water was lost to space, and what remains is largely concentrated around the poles as glacial ice and permafrost.

3. According to new research from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Zhurong rover observed salt-rich dunes in the Utopia Planitia region that showed cracks and crusts, indicating the possible presence of water as recently as a few hundred thousand years ago.

4. The research team was co-led by Xiaoguang Qin and Xu Wang of the Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics; and Xin Ren and Jianjun Liu of the Key Laboratory of Lunar and Deep Space Exploration (part of the National Astronomical Observatories).

5. Their findings were described in a paper that appeared in Science Advances on April 28th.

     The surface of Mars is a barren, desolate place. With its dry soil, extreme temperatures, and toxic atmosphere, it's hard to imagine that it was once a much warmer and wetter world with lots of flowing and standing water. But thanks to China's Tianwen-1 mission and its Zhurong rover, we now know that there may have been liquid water on the Martian surface later than previously thought.

     According to new research from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Zhurong rover observed salt-rich dunes in the Utopia Planitia region that showed signs of water as recently as a few hundred thousand years ago. The team behind the research estimated that these features were formed from small pockets of water from thawing frost or snow mixed with mineral salts. Once the water sublimated in Mars’ atmosphere, patches of hard crust and loose material were left behind, along with depressions and ridges.

     Unlike other features that are hundreds of eons or billions of years old, the team estimates that these features formed between 1.4 million and 400,000 years ago. The team was able to rule out the possibility that frozen carbon dioxide (“dry ice”) and wind were responsible, and instead concluded that involvement of saline water from thawed frost/snow was the most likely cause.

     This discovery indicates that a hydrological cycle existed recently on Mars, far more recent than previously thought. It also suggests that there could be periodic patches of liquid water on Mars today in other regions, though the amount would be very small. This could point toward the existence of small patches of fertile ground where microbial life could still exist today.

     During its mission, Zhurong managed to travel 1,921 meters (1.194 mi) across the surface before going into hibernation on May 20th, 2022. If the China National Space Agency is unable to reactivate the rover before long and decides to conclude the mission, Zhurong could not have picked a more profound discovery to go out on.

     The findings of the Chinese Academy of Sciences team indicate that the modern Martian climate could be much more humid than previously thought, and provide critical clues for future exploration missions searching for signs of extant life. As such, this discovery could be an important step in our search for life on Mars, and could help inform future missions that seek to answer the question of whether or not we are alone in the Universe.

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