Astronomy There was water on Mars over four billion years ago

Mars could actually have been inhabited at some point in its history. This is the conclusion reached by a team of scientists from the University of Lausanne after analyzing Martian meteorites.

The scientists discovered traces of water in the Martian crust from 4.45 billion years ago, i.e. at the beginning of the formation of the Red Planet, as the University of Lausanne (Unil) announced on Monday. This supports the hypothesis that Mars could have been habitable at some point in its history.

By analyzing the composition of the mineral zircon, which was found in the Martian meteorite, the scientists were able to date the traces of water in the Martian crust. According to this study, recently published in "Science Advances", the hydrothermal activity dates back 4.45 billion years, i.e. only 100 million years after the formation of the planet. Scientists from Curtin University and the University of Adelaide were also involved in the study.

SDA