Scientists studying Mars have found strong evidence that rain or snow—not just melting ice—helped shape the planet’s surface billions of years ago.
In a new study published April 21, researchers examined valleys in Mars’ southern highlands and compared them to computer simulations of how water shapes landscapes. They found that the pattern of valley starting points across different elevations matches what would happen if rain or snow had fallen across Mars, rather than just ice melting at high elevations.
The research team created virtual Mars landscapes and ran two different scenarios: one where water came from widespread precipitation (like rain or snow) and another where it came only from melting ice caps. When they compared these simulations to real Mars valley networks seen in NASA satellite images, the precipitation model was the clear winner.
The real Martian valleys begin at many different heights, from below the planet’s average surface level to more than 11,000 feet high. This wide range doesn’t match what would happen if ice were melting, creating valleys mainly at higher elevations near where ice would form.
Using detailed maps from NASA spacecraft, the team found that Mars’ branching valley networks look surprisingly similar to river systems on Earth, like those found in Utah. This suggests that ancient Mars had a climate warm enough for rainfall and an active water cycle, very different from the cold, dry planet we see today.
While melting ice may have contributed some water flow, the evidence points to rainfall or snowfall as the main force that carved these widespread valley networks across the Martian surface long ago.
This study confirms the creation of other-wordly waters as described in Genesis:
“Hashem said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water, that it may separate water from water.’ Hashem made the expanse, and it separated the water which was below the expanse from the water which was above the expanse. And it was so.” Genesis 1:6-7
A “storehouse” of water is hinted at in the Book of Job, hidden away for dire times of war:
“Have you penetrated the vaults of snow, seen the vaults of hail, which I have put aside for a time of adversity, for a day of war and battle?” Job 38:22-23
Nachmanides (Rammban) states that this water is being stored away for the War of Gog and Magog.
This is clearly stated in the Prophet Ezekiel’s description of God’s intevention in the pre-Messiah Gog and Magog War:
“… I will pour torrential rain, hailstones, and sulforous fire upon him and his hordes and the many peoples with him.” Ezekiel 38:22
