A HiRISE image shows the heavily eroded ridge of an inverted riverbed left by a dried-up river billions of years ago. (Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)
Mars was a rainier, wetter environment than astronomers thought, according to a new study of ancient inverted river channels that stretch more than 9,000 miles (14,484 kilometers) across the Red Planet's southern Noahide region.
“Our work provides new evidence that Mars was once a much more complex and active planet than it is today, and it's incredibly exciting to be part of this research,” said study leader Adam Losecutt of the UK's Open University.
We've known that Mars was once a wet world since the Mariner 9 orbiter captured images of a surface littered with dry riverbeds in the 1970s. These riverbeds are more than 3.5 billion years old. However, the channels dug into the ground aren't the only evidence of water on Mars.
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Sourse: www.livescience.com
