New evidence adds to Mars’ aquatic past. Scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), with the help of the rover Curiosity, identified patterns on the surface of the red planet, signs of ancient ice-free ponds and lakes. NASA’s unmanned robot has been traveling specific areas of Mars since 2012 in search of signs that warn of its past climate and geographical configuration. On one of his trips over Gale Crater in 2022, the rover captured a very particular pattern of waves over the arid and fine terrain. The robot’s camera recorded waves 6 millimeters high, separated by four and five centimeters.
Although the neighboring planet has very curious shapes on its surface, the wave patterns are among those that attract researchers the most. Often, these “swells” in the ground suggest that liquid water existed on the ground. The photos of the rovers About probable water patterns are abundant, but research on Earth published in prestigious scientific journals is what usually “certifies” Mars’ watery past.
The Caltech researchers took Curiosity’s graphical data and ran more sophisticated tests on it. The team created computer models using information from the waves above the crater to determine the size of the lake that created them, as well as its behavior and age.
“The two sets of waves indicate the former presence of shallow waters that were open to Martian air, not covered by ice as some climate models would require,” Caltech explained in a statement. release.
Shallow Martian lakes
The waves must have formed about 3.7 billion years ago. The age and traditional state of the crater lake are indicators that, in its first billion years, Mars’ climate and atmosphere were warm and dense. The waves could only form over water exposed to the wind, the researchers say. Gale Crater Lake must have been 2 meters deep, at most.
“The discovery of the waves is an important advance for Mars paleoclimatic science. We have been searching for these features since the Opportunity and Spirit landers began their missions in 2004. Previous missions, beginning with Opportunity in 2004, discovered waves formed by water flowing across the surface of ancient Mars, but it was unclear whether that water ever accumulated to form lakes or shallow seas,” said John Grotzinger, author of the article.
He rover Curiosity discovered evidence of long-lived ancient lakes in 2014. A decade later, the same robot helped confirm ancient lakes that were free of ice. Confirmation of the sustained presence of water on Mars will help research aimed at finding traces of past life on the planet.
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