Tag Archive for 'Precipitation'

This HiRISE image shows a flat top, heavily eroded fluvial sinuous ridge on Mars; sand dunes can be seen migrating over the top of the fluvial sinuous ridge. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona.

Mars was Warm and Wet 3.7 Billion Years Ago, New Study Suggests

Jul 14, 2025 by News Staff

Planetary scientists have discovered more than 15,000 km of ancient riverbeds in Noachis Terra, a region in Mars’ southern highlands. This discovery...

This artist’s impression shows how Mars may have looked about 4 billion years ago. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Early Mars Had Climate Warm Enough to Support Rain, New Modeling Study Suggests

Apr 22, 2025 by News Staff

Observations of large valley networks on today’s Mars suggest formation by flowing water. However, most climate models cannot sustain temperatures above...

Сeramic pipes excavated from Pingliangtai, China. Image credit: Li et al., doi: 10.1038/s44221-023-00114-4.

4,000-Year-Old Ceramic Drainage System Discovered in China

Aug 16, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The 4,000-year-old network of ceramic water pipes unearthed at the archaeological site of Pingliangtai on the Central Plains of China represents an unprecedented...

An artist’s impression of the Hadean Earth: huge, impact-generated lava lakes coexisted with surface liquid water, under a thick greenhouse atmosphere sustained by lava outgassing. Image credit: Simone Marchi & Dan Durda, Southwest Research Institute.

Extreme Heat Led to Episodic Deluges on Ancient ‘Hothouse’ Earth, Scientists Say

Nov 4, 2021 by News Staff

The distant past of Earth and potentially its future include extremely warm ‘hothouse’ climate states, but little is known about how the atmosphere...

It’s raining on Titan. Image credit: David A. Hardy, AstroArt / NASA.

Raindrops are Remarkably Similar across Different Planetary Atmospheres, Study Says

Apr 6, 2021 by News Staff

A new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets is a first step toward a generalized theory of how precipitation and condensible...