Nasa's Curiosity rover finds unexpected evidence of Mars' hidden water history
Curiosity Rover has been ascending the foothills of Mount Sharp, a 5-kilometre-tall mountain thought to have lakes and streams that would have made available a rich environment for microbial life.
Nasa's Mars Rover Curiosity has made an unexpected discovery about the Red Planet's past. The findings during the exploring of a region known as the 'Marker Band' revealed evidence of ancient water ripples that formed within lakes. ALSO READ: Nasa's Hubble telescope captures the start of a new 'spoke' season of Saturn
The Curiosity Rover has been ascending the foothills of Mount Sharp, a 5-kilometre-tall mountain thought to have lakes and streams that would have made available a rich environment for microbial life.
“This is the best evidence of water and waves that we’ve seen in the entire mission,” said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity’s project scientist, adding that the evidence has been found in a region they thought would be dry.
What are the newly discovered clues of water on Mars?
1. In the Marker Band, a narrow band of dark rock that sticks out from the rest of Mount Sharp, Curiosity discovered rippling rock textures. Scientists believe they formed billions of years ago when material at the lake's bottom was stirred up by waves on the lake's surface, resulting in rippling textures in the rock. ALSO READ: How NASA is helping in rescue operations in earthquake-hit Turkey and Syria
Curiosity has been unable to drill a sample from this layer of rock despite numerous attempts due to its extreme hardness.
2. Another clue discovered by the Curiosity rover is a channel in Gediz Vallis valley, which is thought to have been eroded by a small river. Scientists believe wet landslides occurred here as well, sending car-sized boulders and debris to the valley floor.
3. A strange rock texture that was probably caused by some kind of cyclical pattern in the weather or climate has also piqued the team's interest. This type of rhythmic pattern in Earth's rock layers is frequently caused by periodic atmospheric events, which may indicate that Mars' climate has changed over time.
The Curiosity mission's findings demonstrate that Mars used to be much wetter than previously believed, and future investigation is likely to yield much more fascinating findings about the planet's past.
