--- title: "China’s Mars Rover Detected Polygons Under the Planet’s Surface" description: "China's Mars rover has uncovered underground polygon structures buried deep beneath the Red Planet's surface." date: "2023-12-02" modified: "2023-12-02" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-mars-polygons" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Mars" - "Space" tags: - "china" - "mars" - "the digest" - "zhurong" --- # China’s Mars Rover Detected Polygons Under the Planet’s Surface ![China's Mars rover has uncovered underground polygon structures buried deep beneath the Red Planet's surface.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Ice Ice Baby China's Mars rover has uncovered underground polygon structures buried beneath the Red Planet's surface — and it looks like they're related to Mars' long-lost water, too. In a new study [published in the journal *Nature Astronomy*](), a team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) say that using data from the Zhurong rover's [ground-penetrating radar]() capabilities, they've found several mysterious subterranean polygons located some 35 feet below its surface that are likely formed by ice. Using this high-tech radar, the rover combed [Utopia Planitia](), a large plain in the [planet's northern hemisphere]() where Zhurong's inactive husk still rests, to see what was happening below. The CAS team found, per Zhurong's readings, a total of 16 "polygonal wedges" in an area of about three-quarters of a square mile, "suggesting a wide distribution of such terrain under Utopia Plainitia," the *Nature Astronomy* paper explains. ## Water Works Though [NASA had detected]() similar [fascinating Martian polygons]() on [previous occasions](), this is the first time anyone's used ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to take measurements on them. While they can't say for certain just yet how the polygons were formed, the CAS researchers posited in their paper that they were "possibly generated by freeze-thaw cycles" such as those that happen in the winter and spring here on Earth. Even more intriguingly, the paper predicted that the polygons likely formed during the Late Hesperian–Early Amazonian eras on Mars, which took place between 3.7 and 2.9 billion years ago, which would indicate that there had previously been bodies of water on or around the area where they were found. Notably, [Zhurong has also made headlines]() this year for its readings that suggest with greater credibility than ever before that Mars used to be home to bountiful bodies of water — and perhaps, as one incredible recent finding suggests, [as recently as 400,000 years ago](). Another of the Chinese rover's recent discoveries suggests that there were some [big-deal floods on the Red Planet]() as well — and those same floods seem to have created the layers under Utopia Planitia's surface where the polygonal structures now live. Remarkably similar to the "[patterned ground]()" phenomenon found here on Earth, these [Martian polygons]() could not only provide more evidence that the Red Planet used to be home to abundant water, but also that it used to be home to life as well. **More on Mars:** [*Scientists Catch Mars Glowing Green*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()