A New Way to Analyze Evidence of Martian Oceans

Eos: 04/09/2019, Elizabeth Thompson

An artist’s rendering of what Mars may have looked like 4 billion years ago with an ocean covering about half of its surface. A new study presents a tool kit for verifying potential ancient shorelines on the Red Planet. Credit: European Southern Observatory/M. Kornmesser

At the end of the 19th century, an astronomer named Percival Lowell first peered up at Mars and observed some dark lines with powerful implications—an extensive network of canals. He was thrilled to see what he considered evidence of an advanced civilization sculpting the Martian landscape as his fellow earthlings were constructing the Suez and Panama Canals. Read more...