The red planet was originally blue, hosting a global ocean that was over 1,000 feet deep. In the first 100 million years of the planet’s evolution, Mars was bombarded with ice-filled asteroids: in addition to water, they provided basic elements for life, such as amino acids.
Study by the University of Copenhagen Denmark reveals a key piece
A new study by scientists at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark shows that around 4.5 billion years ago there was enough water on Mars for the entire planet to be covered by an ocean 300 meters deep. In addition, there were also amino acids and other essential elements for the development of life. Consequently, the red planet could have been the first to host life in our Solar System.
Most specialists agree that Mars had surface liquid water at some point in its history, but there are still questions about the amount of water that would have accumulated and the impact that it could have had in stimulating the development of life. Now, research recently published in the journal Science Advances seems to solve this mystery, which has sparked intense controversy among scientists.
Water on Mars: records suggest that there was an ocean 300 meters deep
According to a press release, the analysis of chromium isotopes in Martian meteorites suggests that Mars had a large amount of water in its early days, which accumulated in the form of a global ocean at least 300 meters deep, which may even have reached to be 1 kilometer deep, according to the estimates of the group of researchers led by Professor Martin Bizzarro.
In the first 100 million years of the planet’s evolution, Mars would have been “bombarded” by ice-filled asteroids. The impact of these bodies generated the accumulation of water after the melting of the ice, but also made it possible for the red planet to be nourished with basic elements for the development of life: the meteorites also contributed amino acids, which are crucial when DNA and RNA forms the “bases” for life, containing everything necessary for a cell to develop.
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Life before on Earth
The scientists indicated that this scenario took place approximately 4.5 billion years ago, before Earth became a planet suitable for life. In this way, Mars would have been the first planet in the Solar System to have all the essential elements for life to develop, perhaps through some form of ancient microbial life.
By then, Earth had other urgencies: the impact with Theia, a planet about the same size as Mars, wiped out potential life on early Earth and gave rise to the Earth-Moon system. After complex and long processes, it is believed that life on earth arose about 3.5 billion years ago.
To test their hypothesis, the researchers analyzed the variability of the chromium isotope (54 Cr) in a total of 31 Martian meteorites, some of which formed part of the original crust of Mars. It is important to consider that the Martian surface does not move: having no tectonic plates like Earth, the planet’s surface preserves a record of its earliest history.
On the contrary, on Earth everything is different: tectonic plates are in perpetual motion and are recycled inside the planet. Consequently, plate tectonics erased all evidence of what happened in the first 500 million years of our planet’s history. This phenomenon does not take place on Mars, allowing scientists to discover the mysteries that still exist about the beginnings of the red planet.
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