Multipolarized radar reveals shallow subsurface structure and middle-late Amazonian aqueous activity in Utopia Planitia, Mars
The Martian subsurface preserves a record of the geological and climatic evolution of Mars beyond that exposed at the surface. The Zhurong rover of the Tianwen-1 mission landed in southern Utopia Planitia on Mars and conducted a high-frequency quad-polarized ground-penetrating radar survey. High-frequency radar images with ∼5 cm vertical resolution in the immediate subsurface reveal three distinct subsurface layers, buried craters, centimeter-scale layered sediments, and widespread northward-sloping features, some of which likely formed in aquatic environments during the middle to late Amazonian period. These findings suggest that aqueous activity in Utopia Planitia persisted throughout this period, extending the known timeline of water-related processes on Mars and providing new insights into the red planet's geological and climatic evolution.
Authors
- H. W. Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3423-2632)
- Xiaoguang Qin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3880-5678)
- Kaichang Di (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6581-6615)
- Jiangjie Zhang
- Honglei Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9945-5050)
- Chao Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2556-0891)
- Bin He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5994-1652)
- Yang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7699-2507)
- Tianfan Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7664-904X)
- Yike Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5762-2239)
- Ross N. Mitchell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5349-7909)
- Yongxin Pan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4227-3061)
- Pan Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2140-9262)
- Xin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4053-5515)
- Yikang Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2975-0991)
- Jinlai Hao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9623-9221)
- Yibo Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0870-6302)
- Ling Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7170-5954)
- Juan Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5480-7641)
- Lei Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6067-3325)
- Jiangang Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8861-8571)
- Xu Wang
- Wenhui Wan
- Jinhai Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6314-5299)
- Fu‐Yuan Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2281-7885)
- Zhendong Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2991-9593)
- Yangting Lin
Institutions
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Institute of Geology and Geophysics (AZ)
- National Space Science Center (CN)
- Institute of Geology and Geophysics (CN)
- Aerospace Information Research Institute (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- National Science Review
- Published
- 2025-11-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaf505
- Primary Topic
- Planetary Science and Exploration
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- China National Space Administration
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences