Mars Once Had So Much Water, It Could Have Been An Ocean World, Scientists Say

Mars is often referred to as the 'Red Planet' due to the fact that it is rich in iron oxides. The atmosphere is very thin and cold and no water can be found on the surface.

Mars used to be a very different place, with a warmer atmosphere and water on its surface.

Scientists have been trying to figure out how long the natural bodies were on Mars.

The amount of water Mars once had is an important question. According to a new study by an international team of planetary scientists, Mars may have had enough water to cover it in a global ocean up to 300 meters deep.

They argue that these conditions indicate that Mars was the first planet in the Solar System to support life.

Water and the building blocks for life are believed to have been distributed throughout the solar system. The role of this period in the evolution of rocky planets is still being debated.

The international team reported on the variability of a single chromium isotope in Martian meteorites. The meteorites were ejected from Mars due to the impact of asteroids.

The composition of these meteorites is indicative of Mars' original crust before asteroids deposited water and other elements.

Mars does not have plate tectonics that are as active as Earth's. After the planets of the solar system formed, meteorites ejected from Mars offer a unique insight into what the red planet was like.

Professor Bizzarro is a co-author of the book.

The first 500 million years of our planet's history were wiped out by plate tectonics. Plates are recycled back into the interior of our planet. Mars does not have plate tectonics such that the earliest history of the planet is preserved.

The team estimated the impact rate for Mars around 4.5 billion years ago and the amount of water they delivered.

There is enough water to cover the entire planet in an ocean at least 300 meters in depth and up to 1 kilometer deep in some areas.

The formation of the Moon was caused by a Mars-sized object colliding with Earth.

During the Late Heavy Bombardment, asteroids brought water and organic molecule to Mars. Life could have existed on Mars if Earth had been sterile.

Within Mars's first 100 million years, this happened. Potential life on Earth was destroyed after this time. There is a belief that the Earth and another planet collided. All life on Earth was wiped out when the Earth-Moon system was formed.

The study uses the deuterium-to-hydrogen ratios of meteorites to create models of atmospheric evolution. When Earth was molten, Mars may have been covered in oceans.

These and other questions related to Mars' geological and environmental evolution will be investigated further by robotic missions.

This article was published in the past. The original article is worth a read.