Scientists uncover 'deep' connection between Earth and Mars that goes back 2.4 million years

Mars may be 140 million miles away from Earth, but scientists have uncovered a connection between the two distant worlds. 

Researchers at the University of Sydney found a 2.4-million-year-old cycle of giant whirlpools in the our planet's deep-sea, which have been ongoing for more than 40 million years.

The intense underwater circulation was linked to gravitational interactions between Mars and Earth, with the Red Planet pulling ours closer to the sun every few million years.

The synergy between the two worlds is also enough to impact Earth's climate - increased solar energy and a warmer weather was found to arise during the cycles.

The intense underwater circulation was linked to gravitational interactions between Mars and Earth, with the Red Planet pulling ours closer to the sun every few million years - causing 'giant whirlpools' deep in our oceans

The team drilled 370 holes deep in the oceans across the globe to analyze sediments within the sea-floor.

Samples showed cycles of weakening and strengthening, which pointed to vigorous circulation happening below the depths.

Lead author Dr Adriana Dutkiewicz said she and her team were surprised to uncover signs of the cycles in sediments, marking the first evidence found in geological data.

'There is only one way to explain them: they are linked to cycles in the interactions of Mars and Earth orbiting the sun,' she continued.

The interaction between the two planets is called 'resonance,' which is when a pair of orbiting objects pull each other using gravitational push.

Previous studies have assumed that Jupiter and Saturn were born because of the motion - the former went around the sun three times for ever to of the ringed planets cycle.

The team drilled 370 holes deep in the oceans across the globe to analyze sediments within the sea-floor. Samples showed cycles of weakening and strengthening, which pointed to vigorous circulation happening below the depths

The moon's gravitation pull causes ocean tides, but the new study is the first to uncover to another planet impacting Earth.

For our planet it means periods of higher incoming solar radiation and warmer climate in cycles of 2.4 million years.

READ MORE: How Mars could turned into a terraformed Dune planet for future colonizers 

The fictional desert planet of Arrakis, which serves as the main setting for Dune, was once a desert wasteland, similar to the Red Planet, but then terraformed into a wet, lush world - however, it does not yet happen in the two released films. 

The researchers found that the warmer cycles correlate with an increased occurrence of breaks in the deep-sea record, related to more vigorous deep ocean circulation.

And scientist determined the whirlpools, or eddies, were an important component of earlier warming seas.

It is possible these could partly mitigate ocean stagnation some have predicted could follow a faltering AMOC (Atlantic meridional overturning circulation) that drives the Gulf Stream and maintains temperate climates in Europe.

Co-author Professor Dietmar Mülle said: 'We know there are at least two separate mechanisms that contribute to the vigor of deep-water mixing in the oceans. AMOC is one of them, but deep ocean eddies seem to play an important role in warm climates for keeping the ocean ventilated.

'Of course, this would not have the same effect as AMOC in terms of transporting water masses from low to high latitudes and vice-versa.'

These eddies are like giant whirlpools and often reach the abyssal seafloor, resulting in seafloor erosion and large sediment accumulations called contourites, akin to snowdrifts.

'Our deep-sea data spanning 65 million years suggest that warmer oceans have more vigorous deep circulation,' Dutkiewicz said.

'This will potentially keep the ocean from becoming stagnant even if Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation slows or stops altogether.'