Researchers from Pennsylvania State University, specialized in geophysics, have uncovered new evidence suggesting that Mars hosted rivers in its ancient past. This conclusion comes from detailed analysis of data gathered by NASA’s Curiosity rover, a mission focused on Gale Crater and its surrounding terrain. The results appear in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters.
By building and testing digital models that simulate long term erosion on Martian landscapes, scientists have demonstrated that the telltale marks of river activity could resemble familiar crater patterns. The work shows how water-driven processes may have carved channels and formed sedimentary structures that endure in the Martian record.
The research team repurposed a dataset originally collected to study Earth’s sedimentary rocks along with offshore core samples from the Gulf of Mexico. These Earth-based observations provided a benchmark for how erosional forces shape landscapes over vast timescales, enabling a meaningful comparison with Martian landforms captured by Curiosity.
Simulations indicate that the erosion pathways on Earth can produce landforms nearly identical to those observed in Gale Crater and other Martian locations. The comparison strengthens the case that water once shaped a broad swath of the planet, not merely isolated pockets of terrain.
Lead author Benjamin Cardenas notes that the results point toward a river-rich Mars. He explains that river networks may have been widespread, leaving an imprint across multiple regions of the world, and that the evidence is compatible with a global hydrological cycle in Mars’ distant past.
The possibility that ancient rivers once flowed on Mars carries implications for the potential of life in the planet’s past. If liquid water persisted long enough to sculpt river channels and sediment layers, it would have created habitats where biology could have emerged and persisted under the right conditions.
Earlier investigations by microbiologists opened new avenues for seeking signs of life on Mars, guiding researchers to look beyond rock textures and toward chemical and mineralogical clues that rivers can furnish. This evolving line of inquiry continues to reshape how scientists search for biosignatures on the red planet.