Wide rivers flowed on Mars

Rivers bigger and more powerful than those on Earth flowed on Mars later in the planet’s history than previously thought, research has shown.

The raging water courses carved deep channels into the Martian surface at “hundreds of locations”, said scientists.

Satellite images and data from Nasa’s Curiosity rover indicate that many of the rivers were twice as wide as those on Earth. They may also have persisted until less than one billion years ago, the evidence suggests.

The findings are a mystery, because scientists had previously thought that the Red Planet was losing its atmosphere and drying out during this time.

Dr Edwin Kite, from the University of Chicago, said: “It’s already hard to explain rivers or lakes based on the information we have. This makes a difficult problem even more difficult.”