Larger than any lake on Earth, Lake Eridania could be vivid evidence of an ancient extraterrestrial life.
According to Sci-News, new images from the HRSC camera on the Mars Express spacecraft of the European Space Agency (ESA) have identified a strange terrain area called Caralis Chaos on the Red Planet, which is actually the remnants of a gigantic lake.
The complex terrain where a massive extraterrestrial lake resides – (Photo: ESA).
ESA has named this lake Eridania. With an area of over 1 million km2 and considerable depth, Lake Eridania once contained more water than all other lakes on Mars combined.
It is also much larger than any lake on Earth, holding enough water to fill the Caspian Sea three times over.
This lake likely existed around 3.7 billion years ago, initially as a large body of water that gradually dried up and split into smaller lakes.
Eventually, Lake Eridania completely vanished, along with water in other areas on Mars.
Currently, in the Caralis Chaos region, the curved boundary of this lake can still be observed.
The old lakebed is now filled with high mounds, believed to have formed due to severe winds that predated the lake’s formation. As water began to appear, the initial dust mounds were transformed. When the water gradually disappeared, the surface of the mounds dried and then cracked.
In addition to water, there are clear signs of ongoing volcanic activity within and around the Caralis Chaos area, including two fissures cutting across the ancient lakebed.
“These fractures are known as Sirenum Fossae and were formed when the Tharsis region of Mars—home to the largest volcanoes in the Solar System—uplifted, creating immense pressure on the Martian crust,” scientists from ESA stated.
The “wrinkles” on the terrain created by volcanic activity, combined with the complex topography of the ancient lake and the “scars” from meteorite impacts on the Martian surface over billions of years, have collectively shaped the spectacular terrain we see today.
Recently, the hypothesis that Mars once had abundant water similar to Earth 3-4 billion years ago has gained increasing support. This is also the period when scientists believe that underwater life may have existed.
Therefore, Lake Eridania and similar findings are vivid evidence supporting the argument for “Green Mars,” as well as a promised land for missions searching for traces of extraterrestrial life.
