When we think of Mars, we think of a rough-harsh-pink planet. The American space agency reports that the average temperature on Mars is minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit, well below freezing. Because the planet’s atmosphere is too thin and too cold, water does not exist in any form other than ice. But a new study claims, four and a half billion years ago, Mars had a deep ocean up to 300 meters (about 1,000 feet). On November 17, this paper was published by the University of Copenhagen regarding the presence of seas on Mars.
“At that time, Mars was bombarded with icy asteroids,” Martin Bizarro, a professor at the Center for Star and Planet Formation, said in a news release. This event occurred during the first 100 million years of the planet’s evolution. “Another interesting aspect is that asteroids also caried organic molecules that are biologically very important for life.” However, the icy asteroids not only transported water to the Red Planet, but also carried biological materials such as amino acids.
According to this latest study, the planet’s ancient oceans were at least 300 meters deep. Martin Bizarro said that those oceans might have reached a depth of one kilometer. He also added that there might not have been so much water in the world at that time.
He added, “This event happened within the first 100 million years of Mars. Then something catastrophic happened to make life possible on Earth. It is believed that there was a massive collision between Earth and another Mars-sized planet. That powerful collision formed the Earth-Moon system and simultaneously wiped out all possible life on Earth”.
Now this new research has given scientists even more solid evidence that Mars had the right conditions for life long before Earth.
