Image captured by ESA’s Mars Express shows Mars’ rivers, lakes from 3.6 billion years ago
Images recently captured by ESA’s Mars Express show a dried-out river valley with numerous tributaries, indicating the Red Planet’s watery past.
The view, captured by ESA’s Mars Express high-resolution stereo camera, focuses on a section of the Libya Montes region, which sits on the equator at the boundary of the southern highlands and northern lowlands. The Libya Montes highlands mountains, one of the oldest regions on Mars, were uplifted during the formation of the 1200 km-wide Isidis impact basin some 3.9 billion years ago.
According to ESA, the features seen across the broader region indicate both flowing rivers and standing bodies of water such as lakes or even seas that were present in the early history of Mars.
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Scientists say the prominent river channel is thought to have cut through the region around 3.6 billion years ago. The valley is fed by numerous tributaries, pointing to extensive rainfall and surface runoff from higher to lower regions.
Aqueously formed and chemically altered minerals testify to past hydrothermal activity that may be linked to the formation of the Isidis impact basin. For example, the impact could have mobilised liquid water by melting subsurface ice that subsequently interacted with the ancient, volcanic mountain rocks.
Numerous craters in various states of degradation pockmark the entire scene, testament to the region’s long history.
The rich diversity of geologic features in this region – and in this image alone – showcases the dynamic environment the planet has witnessed through time, evolving from a warmer wetter climate that enabled liquid water to flow freely across the surface, to the arid world that we see today.
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