An international team led by the University of Coimbra analyzes the geology of Mars using methods identical to those applied on Earth.
For the first time, morphological fault dating methods used on Earth were applied on Mars to estimate the erosion rates of the red planet.
The study, developed by an international team coordinated by researcher David Vaz, from the Geophysics Center of the University of Coimbra (UC), has just been published in one of the most important journals in planetary sciences – “Earth and Planetary Science Letters".
The application of the same techniques used on Earth allowed us to verify that the movements of tectonic faults are much greater than previously thought, which implies that the Martian crust had a much greater degree of mobility than was previously assumed by the scientific community.
The results also indicate that, for at least the last 3 billion years, the atmospheric conditions on the surface of Mars will have been hyperarid (with erosion rates a thousand times lower than those on Earth).
The results of the study, according to David Vaz, “are relevant to understand the geological history of Mars and to assess the degree of mobility of the crust of this enigmatic planet. These results also allow us to verify that Mars is increasingly a desert and inhospitable planet».
The techniques were applied in two regions with different ages, but the researchers intend to extend the study to the entire planet, which will allow to date and understand the climatic changes that occurred throughout the geological history of Mars.
Author: Cristina Pinto (Press Office – University of Coimbra)
Science in the Regional Press – Ciência Viva
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