ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science

Mars had giant rivers for billions of years, new study finds

This study offers a vital answer, but also poses a puzzling question.

Mihai AndreibyMihai Andrei
March 28, 2019
in Geology, News, Science
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

Water flew intermittently — but very intensely — on Mars, for billions of years.

A photo of a preserved river channel on Mars. Color shows different elevations (blue is low, yellow is high). Image credits: NASA/JPL.

The case for Mars having water in the past is already very strong, and this latest study brings even more evidence to support that idea. Mars is dry today but it used to have a thick atmosphere in the past and it could have supported liquid water. Remote sensing data has revealed numerous valleys which appear to be precipitation-fed former rivers.

Edwin Kite, Ph.D., first author of a new paper says that not only did Mars have rivers and lakes, but they were pretty big, and they were around for billions of years, over several geological periods.

Kite and colleagues used images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, characterizing over 200 such systems. They used the number of craters around to estimate the age of these rivers and used the visual data to calculate the intensity of the river runoff.

While some channels have eroded over the eons, many are still clearly visible due to the very slow erosion currently taking place on Mars. Ironically, the lack of water and atmosphere responsible for this slow erosion allowed researchers to better study these former rivers.

It’s unclear how deep these rivers were, but they were wide — on average, they were wider than those on Earth. They also appear to be evenly distributed across the Martian surface. The team’s results suggest that these rivers flower intermittently (probably fed by precipitations), but intensely.

“Using multiple methods, we infer that intense runoff production [..] persisted until <3 billion years (Ga),” researchers write in the study. “[The] precipitation-fed runoff production was globally distributed, was intense, and persisted intermittently over a time span of >1 Ga.”

There’s another interesting find: it’s not just that these rivers were active for billions of years, but they were active until the very period when Mars almost completely dried up.

RelatedPosts

Partial solar eclipse on Mars as seen from Curiosity [PHOTO]
China successfully launches an ambitious mission to Mars
Russia believes Phobos mission will bring them in back in the spatial spotlight
NASA using pufferfish-inspired technology to carry large payloads to Mars

“You would expect them to wane gradually over time, but that’s not what we see,” Kite said in a statement. “The wettest day of the year is still very wet.”

According to our current climate models of Mars, that just shouldn’t happen — there’s no way the thinning Martian atmosphere could have supported such rivers. It’s not clear where the problem lies, and it’s also not clear exactly when and why Mars dried up. Understanding that could offer us a new understanding of whether Mars what habitable.

“Our work answers some existing questions but raises a new one,” Kite said in the statement. “Which is wrong: the climate models, the atmosphere evolution models or our basic understanding of inner solar system chronology?”

The Curiosity Rover currently roaming Mars and NASA’s upcoming 2020 Mars rover will probably offer crucial puzzle pieces to solve that question — and more.

The study “Persistence of intense, climate-driven runoff late in Mars history” has been published in Science Advances.

Tags: Marsriverwater on mars

ShareTweetShare
Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Dr. Andrei Mihai is a geophysicist and founder of ZME Science. He has a Ph.D. in geophysics and archaeology and has completed courses from prestigious universities (with programs ranging from climate and astronomy to chemistry and geology). He is passionate about making research more accessible to everyone and communicating news and features to a broad audience.

Related Posts

Geology

Scientists Used Lasers To Finally Explain How Tiny Dunes Form — And This Might Hold Clues to Other Worlds

byKimberly M. S. Cartier
2 days ago
News

Terraforming Mars Might Actually Work and Scientists Now Have a Plan to Try It

byTibi Puiu
1 week ago
News

A Decade After The Martian, Hollywood’s Mars Timeline Is Falling Apart

byAri Koeppel
3 weeks ago
Environment

New Global River Map Is the First to Include River Bifurcations and Canals

byRebecca Owen
4 weeks ago

Recent news

Meet the Dragon Prince: The Closest Known Ancestor to T-Rex

June 13, 2025

Your Breathing Is Unique and Can Be Used to ID You Like a Fingerprint

June 13, 2025

In the UK, robotic surgery will become the default for small surgeries

June 13, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • How we review products
  • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Science News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Space
  • Future
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Physics
      • Matter and Energy
      • Quantum Mechanics
      • Thermodynamics
    • Chemistry
      • Periodic Table
      • Applied Chemistry
      • Materials
      • Physical Chemistry
    • Biology
      • Anatomy
      • Biochemistry
      • Ecology
      • Genetics
      • Microbiology
      • Plants and Fungi
    • Geology and Paleontology
      • Planet Earth
      • Earth Dynamics
      • Rocks and Minerals
      • Volcanoes
      • Dinosaurs
      • Fossils
    • Animals
      • Mammals
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Amphibians
      • Reptiles
      • Invertebrates
      • Pets
      • Conservation
      • Animal facts
    • Climate and Weather
      • Climate change
      • Weather and atmosphere
    • Health
      • Drugs
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Human Body
      • Mind and Brain
      • Food and Nutrition
      • Wellness
    • History and Humanities
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • History
      • Economics
      • People
      • Sociology
    • Space & Astronomy
      • The Solar System
      • Sun
      • The Moon
      • Planets
      • Asteroids, meteors & comets
      • Astronomy
      • Astrophysics
      • Cosmology
      • Exoplanets & Alien Life
      • Spaceflight and Exploration
    • Technology
      • Computer Science & IT
      • Engineering
      • Inventions
      • Sustainability
      • Renewable Energy
      • Green Living
    • Culture
    • Resources
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Editorial policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.