The surface of Mars is a pretty desolate place at first glance.
As they describe, the Zhurong rover observed interesting features on the surfaces of Barchan dunes in Utopia Planitia, a massive plain and the largest impact basin in the Solar System. These dunes are a characteristic feature in Mars' northern hemisphere that are similar to dunes that appear in deserts all across Earth.
The team concluded that these features were formed from small pockets of water from thawing frost or snow mixed with mineral salts. Once the water sublimated in Mars' atmosphere, patches of hard crust and loose material were left behind, along with depressions and ridges. Like other features that formed in the presence of water, these were then preserved by Mars' extremely cold and dry atmosphere.
As they explain in their paper, the team was able to rule out the possibility that frozen carbon dioxide and wind were responsible: During the period in question, the Martian environment was much as it is today . Therefore, these findings indicate that a hydrological cycle existed recently on Mars, far more recent than previously thought.
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