Unprecedented discovery: Chinese rover reveals curious structures beneath the surface of Mars

Meticulous scans in Marsdriven by China’s Zhurong rover, revealed a fascinating discovery: polygonal shapes buried beneath the surface of Utopia Planitia.

The rover encountered these intriguing structures while investigating the Red Planet using its advanced ground-penetrating radar system.

Chinese rover reveals unprecedented structures on Mars

The polygonal shapes, with dimensions ranging from centimeters to meters in diameter, make up a puzzle geological that now challenges scientists.

A total of 16 of these polygonal wedges have been identified, located approximately 1.2 kilometers away from the rover’s current point.

Surprisingly, they were buried at an average depth of 35 meters along the route traveled by the Zhurong.

Since his arrival at Mars On May 15, 2021, the rover exceeded expectations for its initial three Earth-month mission, extending its investigations for more than a year before entering a planned hibernation in May 2022.

During this active period, Zhurong thoroughly explored the Martian surface, captured stunning images of the planet, studied the topography, and performed crucial measurements with its ground-penetrating radar, focusing especially on Utopia Planitia.

Model of the emergence of polygonal shapes buried on the Martian surface. – Image: Zhang et al./Reproduction

The data collected by the rover was thoroughly analyzed by researchers from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

According to Lei Zhang and his team, responsible for a new article published in the magazine Naturethe polygonal shapes date back to a period between 3.7 and 2.9 billion years ago, marking the end of the Hesperian and the beginning of the Amazon on Mars.

This revolutionary discovery stands out for being the first time that polygonal terrains have been identified buried.

Its formation, it is speculated, may be related to water freezing and thawing processes in Utopia Planitia, indicating a cold environment during its creation.

The moisture essential for the formation of these structures can have diverse origins, from a possible underground aquifer to the deposition of ice pores due to snowfall or vapor diffusion.

As water dissipated from the sediments over time, the soil contracted, forming characteristic cracks in the mud.

Another intriguing hypothesis suggests a possible origin volcanic for these structures. Thermal contraction, resulting from the cooling of the lava, could have created similar cracks.

Regardless of the explanation, the discovery of these buried polygonal shapes highlights a striking climate change on Mars, leaving scientists eager to uncover more secrets the Red Planet can reveal.