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“There was water on Mars”… Curiosity finds evidence of ‘ancient lake’ on Mars

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NASA’s Mars exploration rover Curiosity has found another conclusive evidence that water existed on Mars in the past. He captured the ripples left by a lake thought to have existed on ancient Mars.

According to NASA on the 9th, Curiosity conducted additional exploration of the sulfate-bearing area discovered last fall and found ripples left on the rock surface by water that existed in the distant past.

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Initially, NASA had determined that when Curiosity discovered the sulfate-bearing area, it had found the last definitive evidence that the area was covered by a lake. It was because minerals containing high amounts of salt, such as sulfate, were left over when the water slowly dried up.

However, the traces of water waves discovered by Curiosity seem to be much clearer evidence of water than this. Billions of years ago, shallow lakes existed on Mars, and waves on the surface of these lakes stirred up sediment at the bottom of the lake, carving ripples into the rocky surface over time.

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“These ripples are the most convincing evidence of water and waves we’ve found in the entire mission,” said Professor Ashwin Barsavada, scientist in charge of NASA’s Curiosity project. I’ve been through the fields, but I’ve never seen evidence like this. Evidence of this has also been found where we expected it to be dry.”

Curiosity has been exploring Mars for more than 10 years since landing on Mars in 2012, finding various traces of water.

Since 2014, he has also climbed ‘Mount Sharp’, which is about 4.8 km (about 3 miles) high, which is expected to have been once surrounded by lakes and streams. In particular, Curiosity discovered a rock formation dubbed the ‘Marker Band’ at the base of Mount Sharp at a height of about 800 m (about half a mile), which preserves the undulating rock texture.

Before the marker bands, clues of water on ancient Mars were also captured in a valley called ‘Gedith Valley’. It was estimated that the valley was cut by the wind blowing from Mars, and it was analyzed that not only the wind but also erosion by a small river passing through the valley appeared.

In addition, NASA estimated that a wet landslide occurred in the valley of the Geddis Valley, dumping car-sized rocks and debris onto the valley floor. Because this debris pile is the topmost fault in the valley, NASA believes that the landslide trail is likely the most recent water clue Curiosity has discovered so far.

Curiosity captured remnants of the landslide from a distance twice last year on the ridge of the Geddis Valley, and it expects to see the remnants again later this year.

Professor Barsavada said, “The waves, the flow of debris, and the faults in a certain rhythm all show that the process of drying up the water on the surface of Mars was never simple.” I would have,” he said.

Source: Donga

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