Mars Express orbiter takes a deep dive into ancient Red Planet lake (images)

By Victoria Corless
published August 8, 2024

"We believe that water, and a lot of it, once existed here."



An image of the region of Mars called Caralis Chaos, where copious water is thought to have once existed in the form of an ancient lake. (Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin)


A Mars orbiter has just taken a "deep dive" into an ancient Martian lake, figuratively, at least.

Larger than any lake currently on Earth, the dried-up remnants of this ancient lakebed were just captured in incredible detail by the European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft, which has been orbiting the Red Planet since 2003.

"This patch of Mars — shown in a new view from Mars Express's High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) — is known as Caralis Chaos," ESA scientists wrote in a statement. "We believe that water, and a lot of it, once existed here."

In the Caralis Chaos region lie several now-empty basins that form the remnants of Lake Eridania, an ancient lake that had an area of roughly 424,712 square miles (1.1 million square kilometers) — about the size of Egypt!

ESA scientists believe the lake likely existed around 3.7 billion years ago and contained enough water to fill the Caspian Sea three times over.

More:
https://www.space.com/mars-ancient-lake-express-orbiter