What do the ghost dunes on Mars reveal about life?

The latest scientific research suggests that ancient forms of geographic existence on the surface of Mars have revealed compelling information about the possibility of life once found there.

Hundreds of crescent-shaped "spooky sand dunes" can reveal new evidence of their viability.

These deep holes mark the position of large sand dunes that are raised hundreds of feet above the surface billions of years ago.

Hundreds of crescent-shaped ghost dunes on the surface of Mars - (Photo: NASA).

In addition to providing information about Mars's weather conditions in the past as well as changes in Martian wind, researchers believe that the appearance of ghostly dunes may be useful targets. in the hunt and search for traces of ancient life on the Red planet, because they may have been places where the bacteria took shelter to avoid the harsh radiation of the environment.

This view was presented and explained by the researchers in the newly published scientific paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

Accordingly, the team believes that the ghostly dunes can be traces left after the eruption of volcanic lava, or the remaining sediments after being submerged by sand structures with water and reserve the process until billions of years later.

These clear and prominent structures have also been observed on Earth and in satellite images capturing different regions of Mars such as the Hellas Basin and Noctis Labyrinthus labyrinth area.

Specifically, the team found more than 480 such ghostly dunes in the Noctis Labyrinthus area and more than 300 dunes in the eastern Hellas basin. In these two areas, the average height of sand dunes is 130 and 246 sets, respectively (39.6m and 74.9m).