There is a wealth of evidence, collected over the past few decades, suggesting liquid water was abundant in the early history of Mars. However, the size, evolution, and duration of standing bodies of water such as lakes on Mars’ surface are still a matter of great debate. A recent study paints a detailed picture of the rise and fall of standing bodies of water in a region of Mars that once hosted one of its largest lakes. The study uses data from several spacecraft operating at Mars. (…)
A recent paper, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets, describes a study carried out by Solmaz Adeli, Ernst Hauber, Laetitia Le Deit, and Ralf Jaumann, of an area of Mars’ surface known as the Terra Sirenum region, which is thought to have played host to one of the largest lakes on Mars. The body of water, known as the Eridania Lake, once covered an area of over a million square kilometres before dividing into smaller isolated lakes and eventually disappearing altogether along with the rest of the water on the planet.
This study focusses on the geological events that occurred before, during and after the transformation of the gargantuan Eridania Lake into its hypothesised smaller lakes by looking closely at four ancient basins… [More at links]