Billions of years ago , Mars turned from a lactating globe copious in water to the teetotal frigid desert we love today . Signatures of its past tense , however , can still be seen in ancient river deltas , lake , and eventhe imprint of dunescreated by lava .
Now research worker report the uncovering of more fossilized dunes created much more recently in Mars ’s geologic past tense . These peculiar organisation have been find in Valles Marineris , one of the largest canyons in the Solar System . Published in theJournal of Geophysical Research Planets , these dune impressions formed about 1 billion year ago , and the team mark how similar they look to today ’s dunes .
“ We identified and mapped extensive dune fields in the canyon of Valles Marineris which show clear evidence for lithification and burying . This storey of saving is rare for terrestrial sand dune due to on-going eroding and plate tectonic theory , ” top author Matt Chojnacki from the Planetary Science Institute said in astatement .
“ Based on the dune depository ’s relationship to other geologic unit and forward-looking eating away rates we forecast these to be roughly a billion year sometime . Because of the duneforms ’ sizing and spatial arrangements , which are not that much different to modern equivalents , we indicate that the climate and atmospheric insistency to have been similar to that of contemporary Mars . ”
Earth also has dune that arelithified , fundamentally turned to stone . Thanks to some fortunate conditions , their shape was preserved for millions of years in rock and roll . But Earth is shaped by flowing water system , vent , quakes , rain , and steer . These ancient dunes are often eroded to a phantasm of their former ego .
Mars , however , has about 1 percentage of the density of Earth ’s air , no tectonics , and no pee cycle , so the erosion dunes might receive is dramatically different compared to our own planet . And given this difference , we can learn much more about Mars from these relics of a foregone historic period .
“ Theancient dune fieldsfound within Valles Marineris , with their complex variety of landform contour , degree of conservation , and circumstance , let out the rankness of regional geology , ” Chojnacki bestow . “ These results inform us that wind - driven gumption transport , deposit , and lithification have hap throughout much of Mars ’ recent history and illustrate how landscape evolution there greatly differs compared to that of Earth . ”
The dunes of Mars have been the focus of many reflexion both by roamer and from orbit . you may even see them move .
