Mars was once warm and wet, according to scientists. Around 4 billion years ago, the planet was home to a large ocean according to the Mars Ocean hypothesis. The ocean filled the basin in the north. The basin is less than 3 miles from Mars.
There is a new map of Mars.
The new map is presented in a new study. The lead author of the study is a professor at Penn State University.
Aeolis Dorsa is the focus of the map. About 500 km wide and 900 km long, Aeolis Dorsa is a trough in Mars' northern hemisphere. The plains to the east and west of the region are called Aeolis Planum. There are steep slopes to the south. The region is east of the crater.
The shoreline of an ancient ocean is said to be located in the Aeolis Dorsa region. It is the most dense region of fluvial ridges on Mars. luvial ridges are troughs carved by water and may be eroded. The researchers took pictures of the region from different angles. There is a 3.5 billion year old shoreline. There are deposits over 900 meters deep in the region that have changed shape over time.
The authors organized Aeolis Dorsa's fluvial ridges into 20 systems. The edges of the ancient ocean are defined by eroded remnants of river Deltas.
Scientists know how much geological information there is in the Aeolis Dorsa basin. Scientists refer to the basins asstratigraphic succession because they have a record of deposits over time. There's a lot of resources in the basins. Coal, natural gas, and oil are found in these basins.
Mars doesn't have these resources but the basins do.
The rocks in Aeolis Dorsa capture some interesting information about the ocean. It was moving fast. The sea level went up a lot. It was being deposited at a rapid rate. There was a lot of changes here.
This research was important because of theigraphy. There are layers of rock. The theoretical groundwork was established by Nicholas Steno in 1669. Scientists use it to track changes in waterways over time. The record of Earth's changing climate and evolving life can be found in stragraphic records.
It makes sense to look for basins on Mars. We need water to understand Mars. Changing water levels can cause the shoreline to advance and retreat.
We reconstructed by grouping landforms based on their positions.
The paleogeography at Aeolis Dorsa is different from the modern one. A scale consistent with a northern ocean on a warm and wet early Mars was used to track the initial regression and transgression of a shoreline.
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