Perseverance finds evidence of ancient river system in Martian soil

The Mars rover Perseverance has discovered further evidence of a past with water and river systems on the neighboring planet. These are said to be even older than the previously known water-formed formations.

Perseverance landed on Mars in early 2021, in the Jezero crater, where it is exploring dried-up lakes and river deltas visible from orbit. Their age is estimated to be around 3.7 billion years – for comparison: the solar system is 4.6 billion years old.

Among the sensors Perseverance is equipped with is a ground-penetrating radar, which allows Perseverance to look beneath the Martian surface. With it, the robot has found evidence of an even older river system at a depth of 35 meters. The data comes from the period between September 2023 and February 2024.

The formation consists of slopes shaped by rivers as well as meandering riverbeds, writes a research team led by Emily Cardarelli from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the journal Science Advances. The team estimates the age at 4.2 billion years, about half a billion years older than the formations on the surface of Jezero.

Evidence of Martian Life?

“It extends the window of fluvial deposition on Mars,” Emily Cardarelli told the US science magazine Scientific American. “On Earth those conditions produce minerals that can preserve fossils.” The search for signs of early life on Mars is one of the goals of the Perseverance mission.

Cardarelli expects Perseverance to deliver further remarkable findings about the Jezero crater, which was formed by a meteorite impact. “There’s a lot more to say about this particular area – and other areas within the crater,“ said the researcher. “We’re still digesting all our data.“

(wpl)