Mars had running water, new data shows

MARS HAD running water on its surface less than a million years ago, new evidence suggests

MARS HAD running water on its surface less than a million years ago, new evidence suggests. The discovery increases the chances of life having existed on the planet in the recent past, or even surviving today.

Scientists have identified fan-like gullies inside a crater that appear to be not more than 1.25 million years old. They believe the channels must have been sculpted by surface water from melting ice.

There is evidence of water-borne sediments being carried down from high ground and deposited in low-lying alluvial fans.

Prof James Head, from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, US, who with colleagues reported on the discovery in the journal Geology, said: “We think there was recent water on Mars. This is a big step in the direction to proving that.”

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The gully system is in Promethal Terra, an area of cratered highlands south of the Martian equator.

A powerful camera on Nasa’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft was able to distinguish four individual lobes of deposited material in the fan system. Scientists believe the best explanation for the gullies is melting snow and ice rather than groundwater bubbling up to the surface. – (PA)