The Zhurong rover, part of China's Tianwen-1 Mars mission, has found evidence of liquid water at low Martian latitudes, indicating potentially habitable environments. This discovery, contradicting previous beliefs that water could only exist in solid or gaseous states on Mars, was made by analyzing
A selfie taken by the Zhurong rover alongside its landing platform, captured with a wireless camera. Credit: Chinese National Space Administrationmission, has found evidence of liquid water at low Martian latitudes, indicating potentially habitable environments. This discovery, contradicting previous beliefs that water could only exist in solid or gaseous states on Mars, was made by analyzing morphological features and mineral compositions of dunes in the landing area.
Previous studies have provided proof of a large amount of liquid water on early Mars, but with the escape of the early Martian atmosphere during the later period, the climate changed dramatically. Very low pressure and water vapor content make it difficult for liquid water to sustainably exist on Mars today. Thus, it has been widely believed that water can only exist there in solid or gaseous forms.
The researchers used data obtained by the Navigation and Terrain Camera , the Multispectral Camera , and the Mars Surface Composition Detector aboard the Zhurong rover to study the different-scale surface features and material compositions of dunes in the landing area. Specifically, salts in dunes cause frost/snow to melt at low temperatures to form salty liquid water. When the saline water dries, the precipitated hydrated sulfate, opal, iron oxide, and other hydrated minerals cement sand particles to form sand aggregates and even crust. Then the crust is further cracked by shrinkage. The later frost/snow melting process further forms polygonal ridges and a strip-like trace on the crust surface.
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