Mystery Martian hills found on Mars sparking hope ‘time capsule’ mounds will solve biggest mystery from 4BILLION yrs ago
Mystery Martian hills found on Mars sparking hope ‘time capsule’ mounds will solve biggest mystery from 4BILLION yrs ago
Share:
MYSTERY hills have been found on Mars sparking hopes scientists can solve the planet's biggest mystery from billions of years ago. The Red Planet is dotted with thousands of mounds containing billions of years worth of history including if Mars ever had water.
![[Martian mounds and craters.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/unusual-martian-mounds-help-solve-966569924.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Over 15,000 of these mounds point outwards across an area the size of Texas on the planet's Chryse Planitia, located north of the equator. Scientists discovered the hills in images taken by NASA and the European Space Agency. Analysis published in the Nature Geoscience Journal on January 20 reveals how these mounds could solve one of the biggest mysteries about the planet.
![[Martian surface with unusual mounds.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/unusual-martian-mounds-help-solve-966570199.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
It is likely that the thousands of mounds were created by water once being on Mars, the research explains. The team has found that the mounds are what remains of ancient highlands that were once on the planet billions of years ago, which eventually eroded away to what is there now.
![[Illustration of Martian mounds with clay-rich layers.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/unusual-martian-mounds-help-solve-966570082.jpg?strip=all&w=562)
This explanation that there was once water on Mars could further explain why the northern and southern hemispheres of the planet are so different. Scientists believe this could be attributed to erosion caused by water between 3.8 and 4 billion years ago.
![[Satellite image of unusual Martian mounds.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/unusual-martian-mounds-help-solve-966570079.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Planetary scientist and postdoctoral researcher at London’s Natural History Museum Dr. Joe McNeil is the lead study author. He told CNN: "Our findings reveal that water was present both at the surface and in the subsurface of this region over geological timescales, between 4.0 (billion) and 3.8 billion years ago.
![[Illustration of a Mars rover on the Martian surface.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/unusual-martian-mounds-help-solve-966569643.jpg?strip=all&w=903)
