Discovery of ancient riverbeds on Mars
Scientists just found huge ancient river systems in Mars's Noachis Terra region, suggesting the Red Planet was much wetter billions of years ago than we thought.
By mapping nearly 16093km of winding riverbeds—some stretching over 161km—they've shown that rain-fed rivers once shaped this landscape around 3.7 billion years ago.
Signs of long-term water in Noachis Terra
Noachis Terra isn't just dry rock—researchers spotted sediment layers and minerals that only form with long-term water.
This flips the old idea that this area was always bone-dry and points to a more complex climate with water spread across the surface.
Noachis Terra a top spot for future missions
If Mars had stable surface water for so long, it could have supported simple life like microbes.
That makes Noachis Terra a top spot for future missions searching for signs of life—and gives scientists better clues about how habitable Mars really was.