On the slopes of the Martian Mount Olympus found traces of the ancient ocean

European Space Agency (ESA) astronomers have spotted traces of the ocean in new satellite images from Mars. Study This was published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

Apparently, the water once washed the Martian volcano Olympus, which is considered the highest mountain in the solar system - 22 kilometers. For comparison: Everest reaches up only 9 kilometers.

On the Martian peak, traces were left that usually occur when volcanic lava collides with water. These processes took place on the Red Planet hundreds of millions of years ago and caused devastating landslides that stretched all the way to the Yelwa crater - thousands of kilometers from the foot of the mountain.

Something similar, but on a smaller scale, once happened on Earth, the researchers note. Traces of volcanic landslides and rockfalls can be found, for example, in Hawaii and the Canary Islands.

New data confirms the hypothesis of French scientists from the University of Paris-Saclay, according to which Mount Olympus was once a volcanic island.