The universe is a place of endless mystery and wonder, constantly offering new and incredible discoveries. Modern astronomy, utilizing powerful telescopes and space probes, continues to unveil the secrets of distant stars, galaxies, and celestial phenomena. Each new finding deepens our understanding of the cosmos and our place within it.
Scientists have been debating for decades whether Mars once held a vast ocean covering a large part of its northern face. To prove the idea, they’ve been looking for a “bathtub ring” - a distinct, level shoreline that shows where water once stood. But, despite years of looking, they’ve only been able to find a very distorted potential shoreline whose height deviates by several kilometers - not exactly great evidence of a stable water level. But, according to a new paper in Nature from Abdallah Zaki and Michael Lamb of CalTech, what scientists should have been looking for wasn’t a bathtub ring, but a continental shelf.
