- 1Guangzhou University, School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, China (jianhuili@e.gzhu.edu.cn)
- 2Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
- 3Department of Geotechnical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
- 4Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering and G3 Center, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA
- 5Department of Geosciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA
- 6Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA (mmanga@berkeley.edu)
- 7Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100094, China
The northern lowlands of early Mars may have contained significant quantities of liquid water. However, the ocean hypothesis remains controversial due to the lack of conclusive evidence from the Martian subsurface [1-5]. We use data from the Zhurong Rover Penetrating Radar (RoPeR) [6-7] on the southern Utopia Planitia to identify subsurface dipping reflectors indicative of an ancient prograding shoreline. The reflectors dip unidirectionally with inclinations in the range 6º-20º and are imaged to a thickness of 10-35 meters along an uninterrupted 1.3 km northward shoreline-perpendicular traverse. The consistent dip inclinations, absence of dissection by fluvial channel along the extended traverse, and low permittivity of the sediments are consistent with terrestrial coastal deposits – and discount fluvial, aeolian or magmatic origins favored elsewhere on Mars. The structure, thickness and length of the section support voluminous supply of onshore sediments into a large body of water, rather than a merely localized and short-lived melt event. Our findings not only lend support to the hypothesis of an ancient Martian ocean in the northern plains but also provide crucial insights into the evolution of Mars' ancient environment.
Reference：
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[2] Citron R. I. et al. (2018) Nature, 555, 643-646.
[3] Perron J. T. et al. (2007) Nature, 447, 840-843.
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[5] Xiao L. et al. (2023) Natl. Sci. Rev., 10, nwad137.
[6] Li C. et al. (2021) Space Sci. Rev., 217, 57.
[7] Li C. et al. (2022) Nature, 610, 308-312.
How to cite: Jianhui, L., Hai, L., xu, M., Diwen, D., Haijing, L., Jinhai, Z., Fengshou, Z., Derek, E., Benjamin T., C., Michael, M., Bin, Z., and Guangyou, F.: Evidence for Ancient Ocean Coastal Deposits Revealed by Zhurong Rover Radar on Mars, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-3972, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-3972, 2025.
