OREANDA-NEWS. Planetary scientists under the supervision of Joseph Levy, Associate Professor at Colgate University (USA), analyzed images of the surface of Mars and found, that the planet has relatively recently got through several periods of icing. Researchers believe, that in the circumpolar regions of the planet, glaciers advanced and retreated much more often.

Probably, in past epochs, the tilt of the planet's axis of rotation changed. In the first epochs, the Red Planet had a very dense atmosphere, water oceans and a mild climate, which was very similar to Earth. Planetary scientists do not rule out that then Mars was potentially suitable for the origin of life. Such conditions existed for about a billion years after the formation of the planet, and then everything changed – 3.6 billion years ago Mars turned into a lifeless desert. The water reserves were blown into space or turned into ice, and the atmosphere was destroyed. Scientists can't determine exactly what caused this.

Experts have found on the surface of Mars lobed alluvial margins-clusters of boulders and other debris on the lower slopes of mountains and hills. Presumably, they got there as a result of the movement of glaciers. It turned out that if the «parent glacier» advanced and retreated several times, the appearance of such formations changed significantly. After that, several areas with the highest concentration of cobblestones appear on the slopes of mountains or hills.

Perhaps there is ancient Martian ice inside the boulders. It allows to determine the climate history of the planet, according to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.