NASA's Perseverance Mars rover discovers even older lost rivers at Jezero Crater

"Now, however, Perseverance's ground-penetrating radar has found signs of an even older river-and-delta system at Jezero that is buried deep beneath the surface. Published today in the journal Science Advances, the findings suggest the Red Planet's window of habitability stretches even further back in time than many scientists had imagined."

"The new study relies on data from 78 traverses of the area from September 2023 to February 2024. The rover used its radar capabilities to study layers of sediment buried more than 35 meters below ground—nearly twice as deep as it had previously probed—where it registered echoes of even older river-carved slopes and sinuous, meandering channels."

"It extends the window of fluvial deposition on Mars, says Emily Cardarelli, a scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the study's lead author. On Earth those conditions produce minerals that can preserve fossils."

NASA's Perseverance rover has discovered subsurface evidence of an ancient river-delta system buried more than 35 meters beneath Jezero Crater, extending Mars's potential habitability window further back in time than previously thought. Using ground-penetrating radar during 78 traverses from September 2023 to February 2024, the rover detected echoes of river-carved slopes and meandering channels that formed as early as 4.2 billion years ago. This discovery, published in Science Advances, suggests Mars maintained conditions suitable for water flow and potentially life preservation for a longer period than many scientists had imagined. The findings complement earlier observations of visible surface deltas dating to 3.7 billion years ago, indicating sustained fluvial activity on the Red Planet.

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