{"id":797484,"date":"2025-07-27T08:07:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T13:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=797484"},"modified":"2025-07-27T08:07:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T13:07:06","slug":"extensive-ancient-rivers-on-mars-revealed-in-new-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=797484","title":{"rendered":"Extensive ancient rivers on Mars revealed in new study"},"content":{"rendered":"


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View larger. | A fluvial sinuous ridge, or inverted channel, in Noachis Terra on Mars. A new study has identified over 9,300 miles (15,000 km) of these ancient rivers on Mars in this region. Image via NASA\/ JPL\/ University of Arizona\/ Royal Astronomical Society (CC BY 4.0).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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  • Rivers were once common on Mars.<\/strong> Today, we can still see thousands of ancient riverbeds on the red planet.<\/li>\n
  • Scientists have now found many more ancient river valleys<\/strong> in the Noachis Terra region, which has been relatively unexplored until now. The river valleys appear as inverted channels, where harder standing sediments have been left behind after erosion.<\/li>\n
  • Mars was likely even wetter than first thought,<\/strong> the discovery shows. Rains formed the rivers over relatively long geologic timescales.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Ancient rivers on Mars<\/h3>\n

    We know that Mars was once a watery world, with rivers, lakes and likely even an ocean. On July 10, 2025, a team of scientists led by Adam Losekoot at the Open University in the U.K. said it appears the planet was even wetter than previously thought. Using data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Global Surveyor, the scientists said they have discovered many more ancient riverbeds: over 9,300 miles (15,000 km) of them altogether. They are in the Noachis Terra region of Mars and are similar to other features on the planet called inverted ridges. They are evidence for widespread flowing water.<\/p>\n

    The features suggest water was stable in Noachis Terra around 3.7 billion years ago. They also indicate that precipitation was the most likely source of the water.<\/p>\n

    The researchers presented their findings at the Royal Astronomical Society\u2019s National Astronomy Meeting 2025 in Durham, U.K., on July 10, 2025.<\/p>\n

    Inverted riverbeds in Noachis Terra<\/h3>\n

    Until now, scientists hadn\u2019t studied the Noachis Terra region as much as some other places on Mars. One of the main reasons is that it contains relatively few recognizable ancient riverbeds. But Losekoot and his colleagues did something different. They looked instead for inverted<\/em> channels called fluvial sinuous ridges<\/em>. Those are like riverbeds, but appear as ridges instead of valleys. This happens when rivers deposit sediments, and those sediments gradually harden into standing ridges after the rivers have dried up. As erosion removes softer material around them, the ridges become exposed.<\/p>\n

    Noachis Terra is a relatively unchanged region of Mars. By studying it more, scientists can find clues about what this part of the planet was like billions of years ago. Losekoot said:<\/p>\n

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    Studying Mars, particularly an underexplored region like Noachis Terra, is really exciting because it\u2019s an environment which has been largely unchanged for billions of years. It\u2019s a time capsule that records fundamental geological processes in a way that just isn\u2019t possible here on Earth.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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    View larger. | This image shows 2 east-west branches of a fluvial sinuous ridge. Image via NASA\/ JPL\/ University of Arizona\/ Royal Astronomical Society (CC BY 4.0).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Data from Mars orbiters<\/h3>\n

    The researchers used data from three instruments on two orbiting spacecraft for the study. These were the Context Camera (CTX) and the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) on Mars Global Surveyor (which ended its mission in November 2006).<\/p>\n

    Analysis of the data revealed the locations, lengths and morphologies (shapes) of the ridge systems across a wide region. From the RAS meeting description:<\/p>\n

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    We find fluvial sinuous ridges to be common across Noachis Terra, with a cumulative length of more than 15,000 km [9,300 miles]. These are often isolated segments, but some systems are hundreds of kilometers in length.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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    Adam Losekroot at the Open University in the UK led the new study about ancient rivers on Mars. Image via LinkedIn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n