Scientists 'discover ocean shoreline on Mars' that could be biggest indicator of life yet

The search for signs of life on Mars has taken another intriguing turn, after scientists claim to have discovered the remains of an ancient shoreline.

The findings were uncovered by the Chinese Mars rover Zhurong which was launched as part of the Tianwen-1 mission.

Water is pretty key to life flourishing anywhere, and the rover may have unlocked secrets about the history of water on the surface of the Red Planet.

Researchers from Hong Kong Polytechnic University [via Daily Galaxy] have taken the findings of the rover and suggested that the data proves the existence of an ancient shoreline in the Utopia Planitia region.

Of course, if water did exist on the planet billions of years ago, it could have provided the conditions required for life to flourish – and there could potentially be life forms hidden away in fossil form below the surface to prove it.

The search for life on Mars continuesiStock

According to the claims of the researchers, the ocean froze over before drying up around 260 million years later. However, some debate the arguments put forward in the new research.

The rover has identified mud volcanoes and sediment channels, which researchers claim is indicative of ancient oceans.

Pennsylvania State University’s Benjamin Cardenas is one figure who has questioned the findings, claiming that billions of years of geological change would have made the features difficult to identify. But the researchers claim that asteroid hits could have caused portions of the shoreline to resurface.

For decades, scientists have been trying to find any signs of life on the Red Planet with no conclusive evidence as of yet. In fact, recently, a scientist has said NASA may have accidentally killed life on Mars during a research mission to find it.

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