Overview
- Ground-penetrating radar (RIMFAX) mapped inclined sedimentary layers more than 35 meters below the surface, indicating a large fluvial–deltaic system older than Jezero’s exposed deposits.
- Researchers analyzed 78 rover radar profiles collected over 250 sols between September 2023 and February 2024 along a 6.1‑kilometer traverse.
- The buried sequence predates the well-known surface delta from roughly 3.7 billion years ago, shifting Jezero’s watery history further into the early Noachian.
- The team concludes the earlier environment was potentially habitable and favorable for preserving biosignatures, though no evidence of past life has been confirmed.
- Similar subsurface signals reported by China’s Zhurong rover in Utopia Planitia prompt a tentative regional water‑body hypothesis that remains under investigation.