Education logo

What Happened to Mars' Ocean? It's Still Trapped There

"Unlocking the Mystery: Mars' Ancient Ocean and Its Enigmatic Fate"

By Abdur Rahman Published 4 months ago 5 min read
Like

The soil beneath your feet appears to be a dry and arid red color, creating a freezing cold environment. As you take each step, you struggle to move due to the thick layer of rusty-colored dust that surrounds you. Your feet sink into the dust, making it even more challenging to navigate. You find yourself on Mars, having been drawn here by some truly extraordinary news.

In recent times, Mars, often referred to as the "red planet," has presented itself as a desolate and dusty world. However, scientists believe that this celestial body may have had a vastly different landscape in the distant past. Evidence has been discovered suggesting the existence of a massive ocean that once covered the Martian surface approximately 3.5 billion years ago. This ocean is estimated to have spanned hundreds of thousands of square miles.

The journey towards this discovery began with the examination of numerous satellite images capturing the surface of Mars from various angles. Through meticulous analysis, researchers were able to construct a detailed relief map of the area. They identified over 4,000 miles of distinct formations that were likely carved by ancient rivers. These formations could also represent channels that were once present on the ocean floor.

The data collected by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2007 played a crucial role in this investigation. Scientists meticulously studied the thickness, angles, and locations of the ridges, with a particular focus on a topographical depression known as Aolis Dorsa. Their findings revealed that this region of Mars had undergone significant and continuous changes in the past. These changes were likely caused by the swift movement of rocks influenced by currents and rivers, as well as noticeable fluctuations in sea levels.

Furthermore, researchers observed a distinct boundary separating the elevated and heavily cratered Southern Highlands of Mars from the smooth lowlands of the planet. This boundary bore a striking resemblance to a shoreline, indicating the presence of a colossal ancient ocean. This remarkable discovery strongly suggests that Mars was once home to a vast body of water. Even more intriguing is the possibility that the existence of such an ocean could imply the existence of life.

This groundbreaking revelation has the potential to provide scientists with invaluable insights into the ancient climate of Mars.

In any case, the hypothesis of a sea that once covered a significant piece of Mars' Northern Half of the globe hasn't been affirmed at this point. Researchers are as yet quarreling over its presence. Concerning now, Mars is a freezing world with a typical temperature of 80°F. The planet's surface is rough; it's covered with dry lake beds, holes, volcanoes, and gullies.

The sea that could have existed on Mars isn't the main magnificent thing about this planet. We should talk about those dust storms seething on the red planet. In motion pictures, they're portrayed as unquestionably strong powers of nature, obliterating space explorers' camps and tearing their spaceships into pieces. Yet, what amount of it is valid?

Mars is without a doubt scandalous for delivering dust storms so gigantic they should be visible to telescopes on The planet. They in some cases cover landmass estimated regions and can keep going for quite a long time at a time. However, other than them, there are a lot more extraordinary tempests that happen once in three Mars years, which is around 5 and a half Earth years. Such tempests are bigger and significantly more serious than normal ones; they surround the whole planet. That is the reason researchers call them Worldwide Residue Tempests.

Simultaneously, it's far-fetched that even a worldwide residue tempest could truly hurt space explorers or their hardware. Despite the fact that Martian tempests are gigantic, the breeze speed arrives at 60 MPH tops. That is not exactly a portion of the speed of most storm force twists on The planet. Additionally, this examination of wind rates can sort of misdirect. The environment on Mars is simply 1% or so as thick as the climate on our planet. It implies that the breeze there necessities to blow a lot quicker to create any harm or even fly a kite.

Presently we should move to the following astonishing peculiarity spotted on the red planet. At the point when you take a gander at it from a good ways, it seems to be an eye. There are even a few winding channels that seem to be veins going through the eyeball. Yet, the nearer you get, the less the arrangement seems to be a genuine eye. It's really a goliath pit, very nearly 19 meters in width. Around the pit, which looks as though it has a student, there are other considerably greater holes. They probably shaped billions of years prior, that is when Mars needed to endure various assaults of room rocks.

In any case, for what reason is the eye cavity hazier than the encompassing scene? Researchers imagine that once water filled the ginormous pit (recall those channels? They were logical conveying that water), and since the cavity was loaded up with water, it prevented a few substances and minerals from dissolving endlessly.

Your next objective is Valles Marineris. That is a gigantic gulch or rather a ravine framework that runs along Mars' equator. It extends for in excess of 2,500 miles. It's likewise multiple times as profound as the renowned Terrific Gorge on The planet. The thing is so immense it could traverse the whole mainland US from the Pacific to the Atlantic Sea.

Most researchers believe that Valles Marineris is an immense structural break in the hull of the red planet. It might have shaped when the planet was chilling off in the far off past. One more amazing sight on Mars is the biggest safeguard fountain of liquid magma in the whole nearby planet group, Olympus Mons. It's in excess of 370 miles in breadth, and that implies it's practically a similar size as the territory of Arizona. The mountain is likewise 16 miles high and rimmed by extraordinarily tall bluffs.

To envision the sheer size of the spring of gushing lava, we should make a few examinations. The biggest well of lava on Earth is Mauna Loa, around 2.6 miles high and 75 miles across, which really sounds pretty amazing. However, the volume of Olympus Mons is multiple times bigger than that of Mauna Loa. The Martian goliath could gulp down the entire chain of Hawaiian Islands from Kauai to Hawaii.

Researchers have been pondering for a long while why this fountain of liquid magma is so enormous. It very well may be the aftereffect of lower surface gravity and higher emission rates, or the explanation might be the red planet's hull, which is totally different from Earth's. On our planet, the covering is comprised of 15 to 20 moving structural plates. As plates move over areas of interest that produce magma, new volcanoes structure, and the all around existing ones become terminated. That is the reason magma can get to the surface through many vents. Be that as it may, on Mars, the outside isn't broken into similar structural plates as on The planet, and the magma sits around aimlessly however heap in one extremely, enormous spring of gushing lava.

Presently assuming that you visited Mars and chose to go on a night walk

studentstem
Like

About the Creator

Abdur Rahman

Hey there! I'm passionate about writing in science, horror, and fantasy genres. I'm all about supporting fellow writers,

so feel free to leave a tip! It helps fund my book purchases and submission fees for literary magazines.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.