An image by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows possible inverted meanders in Filled Channel West of Ladon Valles (ESP_014100_1600) on Mars recorded during the month of April through early August 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters, File Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

     BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Ancient lakes on the planet Mars may once have hosted life scientists in Britain have said. Analysis of satellite images has revealed craters left along Mars' equator by lakes similar to those found in Alaska and Siberia.

     The lakes were linked by small tributaries and rivers which suggests water was moving. Such conditions may have been able to support microbial life, scientists including a team from Imperial College London say. The lakes, up to 20 km in length, have been dated back three billion years and were probably created following volcanic activity in the region around the equator, previously thought to be dry and arid.

     Scientists have previously believed that the lakes on Mars during that period were merely ice so the findings widen the period of time in which now extinct life forms could have existed on Mars. The results come just months after Nasa, the American space agency, announced that they had found water on the surface of the planet, raising more hopes that signs of life could some day be discovered.

     According to the research published in the journal Geology, scientists now believe that during the Hesperian Epoch, around three billion years ago, lakes and rivers could have been created by sporadic wet and warm periods.

     Researcher Dr Sanjeev Gupta, from Imperial College, said, "Potentially life could have survived in these lakes, we would be talking about microbial life. But these are a potential place to go and look for that life. Previously it was thought that it would have been difficult to sustain life during the period, because it was too cold and dry and there was no standing water, such as ponds, which is what you need for life."

     Future robotic missions to the planet to search for signs of life should include exploration in areas around these lakes, Gupta said. "We have shown that there was standing water, this is another avenue to explore."

     The latest findings were based on satellite images taken by Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. These were analysed to estimate the age of the craters and to discover the channels leading from them. Although the lakes were probably created by volcanic activity, meteorite impacts or shifts in the orbit of the planet, they would have created warmer conditions leading to the melting of ice which would have created rives and filled lakes. Researchers now plan to focus on other areas along the planet’s equator to discover how widespread an area these lakes covered.

     (Agencies)