Today, the planet Mars may not be considered attractive to its arid landscape and very high levels of radiation, but once its image was completely different.

Previous research on the Red Planet had shown that his appearance was completely different from the one he presented today, with running rivers flooding him. In what was not sure is if it had oceans.

But now the researchers have new data available to support their suspicion after discovering buried beaches.

The Zhurong Chinese Rover which has scientific tools among which a high definition of topographic camera for surface studies and the atmosphere of Mars found traces of sandy beaches that existed on the coastline of a large ocean Mars.

“Zhurong was sent to the southern Utopia Planitia near locations where the old satellite coastlines have been mapped,” said Dr. Benjamin Cardenas, co-author of research by Penn State University.

Authors say the results are similar to those taken on the coasts of the Earth using soil penetration radar: both show

Radar images found at depths 10-35 meters underground thick layers of material with sand-like properties, all sloping in the same direction and at an angle similar to that of the beaches on earth just below the water where the sea meets the land.

“The radar typically even identifies subtle changes in the size of the sediments, which is probably the case here,” Cardenas said.

Researchers say this beach of Mars seems to have changed position over time. The data reveal a number of features sinking north – something Cardenas said has shown that the beach was developed in the ocean. “In fact, it developed at least 1.3 kilometers north in the ocean.”

Cardenas said the effects were exciting. “It’s a simple structure, but he tells you that there had to be tides, there had to be waves, there had to be a nearby river that had a precipitate and all these things had to be active for a long time,” he said.

While the researchers noted that the sloping features could result from other types of activity, they say that none of them explain the data. “We exclude volcanic activity, rivers and wind dunes. All of this often looks often on Mars, but the structure simply does not fit any of them, “Cardenas said.

He added that the discovery had an impact on understanding the past on Mars and whether it could be inhabited. “The beach is a interface between shallow water, air and land. It is this kind of environments where it is believed that life on earth first appeared and I think it would be a great place to send a surveillance mission in search of signs of past life, “he said.

But while the Mars coastline may have been sandy, the similarities with the beaches on Earth are limited: not only would there have been palm trees and seagulls as we might have imagined but they would be very cold, says Cardenas.

“He said, I would love to have seen it. By geology, reconstructing these ancient landscapes, it is truly excellent dreamy fuel, “he concluded.