New images suggest an ancient Martian lake

updated 4:09 p.m. ET June 18, 2009

LOS ANGELES - New images suggest Mars had a sizable lake on its surface billions of years ago, further evidence that the planet had a watery past.

Images snapped by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal a 30-mile-long canyon where water once flowed and beach remnants surrounding a basin.

Dubbed the Shalbatana lake for the valley it's located in, scientists believe it is about the size of Lake Champlain that borders the United States and Canada.

The findings were published in this week's Geophysical Research Letters.

Lead researcher Gaetano Di Achille of the University of Colorado at Boulder estimates the lake formed 3.4 billion years ago at a time when the planet was believed to be cold and dry. The lake probably evaporated or froze over, he said.

Cornell University Mars expert Jim Bell called it a neat find, but he said he would like to see other data besides images to support there was a lake.

MORE FROM SPACE

Space Section Front

Earth's upper atmosphere cooling dramatically New crew poised to launch to space station Cosmic Log: Koreans plan space tours Mars probe's latest trouble: Titanium parts Moon poses radiation risk to future travelers NASA, Google eye tracking climate gases Mars lander just might rise from the dead Cosmic Log: Alien ‘water world’ found Organic molecules found ... on the moon?   Month in space: Powerful pictures Space Section Front   Add Space headlines to your news reader: