NASA scientists believe Mars might have harboured vast lakes millions of years ago. NASA’s Curiosity Rover discovered evidence of geological evidence suggesting that once a lake filled an 96-mile km (wide crater) on the Red Planet. These new discoveries strengthen the evidence that Mars once had potential for microbes. Two years have passed since the skycrane landing of the rover inside Gale Crater, August 2012. It has traveled approximately 5 miles (8km) since its landing on Mars. Scientists studied rocks near the Mt. Sharp, a 3 mile-high mountain at the centre of the crater. They appear to be composed of water-deposited sediments that are inclined towards the center of the crater. These rocks also have erosion caused by wind during the repeated filling and emptying the lake. NASA reports that curiosity is currently investigating Mount Sharp’s lowest sedimentary layers, which are located at 500 feet meters (the Murray Formation). The sediments formed at the river’s mouth were similar to deltas found in rivers on Earth. Rivers transported silt and sand to the lake. “This cycle happened over and over.” According to Curiosity scientists, Sharp didn’t exist 3.5 billion years before the crater became filled with water. The Mast Camera from NASA’s Curiosity Mar Rover captured this evenly-layered rock on Aug. 7. It shows an example of a lake floor sedimentary deposit, which is not far away from the point where water enters a lake. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Lead scientist John Grotzinger, with the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, said: “Finding the inclined strata was … a complete surprise,” “Sedimentary geology … is the cutting edge for trying to understand the Earth. He explained that oil companies use seismic surveys to locate inclined strata. “This is because you can get geometry that shows you the location of rocks that you are searching for.” Ashwin Vasavada is NASA’s Curiosity deputy scientist. He stated: “If the hypothesis for Mount Sharp is correct, that would challenge the idea that warm and dry conditions on Mars were temporary, local or permanent.” “A series of experiments will be performed to see patterns in the interaction between the atmosphere, water, and sediments as Curiosity ascends to Mount Sharp. It is possible to see changes in the lake’s chemistry over time. It is possible to see how the lakes’ chemistry changed over time. This hypothesis has been supported by our observations so far. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/MSSS “The size of the lake in Gale Crater and the length of time and series that water was showing up implies that there may have been sufficient time for life to get going and thrive,” said NASA’s Mars Exploration Program scientist Michael Meyer. You can see how the Martian mountain was created inside a crater.
