Scientists believe that dramatic climate changes occurred on the Red Planet several hundred thousand years ago.
Chinese rover Zhurong has detected features in the form of dark ridges on the bright sand dunes of the Utopia Plain on Mars. This proves that the planet experienced dramatic climate change 400,000 years ago.
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Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences presented the results of another study based on data collected by the Chinese Zhurong rover during its studies on Mars from May 2021 to May 2022. This study is also based on observations from China’s Tianwen-1 orbiter. Both spacecraft studied the features of the sand dunes on the Plain of Utopia on Mars.
The shape of the dunes has been eroded, as the study shows, with the emergence of long dark ridges such as transverse eolian ridges (PEGs) at the top of the dunes. But these ridges appeared at a different angle than the wind-shifted dunes. But models describing the movement of the winds on Mars still couldn’t explain how such features might emerge.
Through observations made by the Zhurong rover, scientists discovered that the sand dunes are composed of brighter material underneath the darker matter that makes up PEG. After processing data from the rover and orbiting probe, the scientists concluded that these features appeared between 2.1 million and 400,000 years ago. This means that it must have emerged within the last 400,000 years on the tops of dark ridges in the dunes.
The resulting timeframe coincides with the beginning and end of the last great ice age on Mars. The fact that the PEGs appear at a different angle to the dunes indicates that wind direction at these latitudes most likely changed after the Ice Age.
The reason for the existence of the ice age on Mars was the change in the tilt of the planet’s axis, which occurred periodically. Between 2.1 million and 400,000 years ago, the tilt of Mars’ axis ranged from 15 to 35 degrees relative to its orbital plane around the Sun. Scientists say this has affected the climate on Mars, leading to a dramatic change. By the way, now the tilt of the axis of the Red Planet is 25 degrees.
As a rule, ice ages on Mars are accompanied by an increase in temperature at the poles and the movement of water vapor and dust to the middle latitudes. During the last ice age, this water vapor and dust settled on the surface, forming a layer several meters thick that still remained below the Martian surface at mid-latitudes.
Scientists say it’s necessary to study the climate of Mars to better understand the changes that took place on the planet in the past that led to what Mars is today.
Focus He has already written that a new study based on data from the Zhurong rover shows that there are still weak magnetic field fields in the crust of the planet Mars. As you know, the planet no longer has a magnetic field that protects the planet from cosmic radiation.
Moreover Focus He wrote that data from the Zhurong rover show water activity on Mars in the not too distant past.
We remind you that the NASA orbiter, as already written, showed incredible sand dunes in the Matara crater on Mars. Focus.
Source: Focus
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