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Fossilized Rivers suggest Warm, Wet Ancient Mars

Fossilized rivers suggest warm, wet ancient Mars

Perspective view of Aram Dorsum, an inverted channel on Mars and candidate landing site for the ExoMars rover. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS

Extensive systems of fossilised riverbeds have been discovered on an ancient region of the Martian surface, supporting the idea that the now cold and dry Red Planet had a warm and wet climate about 4 billion years ago, according to UCL-led research. The study identified over 17,000km of former river channels on a northern plain called Arabia Terra, providing further evidence of water once flowing on Mars.

“Climate models of early Mars predict rain in Arabia Terra and until now there was little geological evidence on the surface to support this theory...

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