- It’s thought that Mars’ Gale Crater may have been filled with lakes roughly 3.5 billion years ago
- Analysis of observations from NASA’s Curiosity rover has confirmed lines in ‘Old Soaker’ rock are mudcracks
- The researchers say their position near the center of where a lake bed once sat indicated levels fluctuated
Scientists say a coffee-table sized slab of Martian rock dubbed ‘Old Soaker’ offers a unique glimpse into the red planet’s watery past.
And in some ways, it looks a lot like Earth.
It’s thought that Mars’ Gale Crater may have been filled with lakes roughly 3.5 billion years ago – and, last year, scientists revealed they’d discovered what could be cracks left behind by mud.
Now, further analysis of the observations from NASA’s Curiosity rover suggests the lines are, in fact, mudcracks, indicating that the once-wet region experienced dramatic changes over the course of its life.
It’s thought that Mars’ Gale Crater may have been filled with lakes roughly 3.5 billion years ago. Scientists now say a coffee-table sized slab of Martian rock dubbed ‘Old Soaker’ (pictured) offers a unique glimpse into the red planet’s watery past. In the study, the researchers studied polygon dessication features similar to those seen on Earth
These cracks, called dessication mudcracks, are created when wet sediment is exposed to air, the researchers explain.
As the cracks discovered in Gale Crater are situated near the center of where a lake bed once sat, the team says the water levels must have experienced dramatic fluctuations.
Over time, the water rose and fell, leaving its center exposed.
The team analyzed Old Soaker using several instruments, including Curiosity’s Mastcam, Mars Hand Lens Imager, ChemCam Laser Induced Breakdown Spectrometer (LIBS), and Alpha-Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS).
‘We are now confident that these are mudcracks,’ explains lead author Nathaniel Stein, a geologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
‘The mudcracks show that the lakes in the Gale Crater had gone through the same types of cycles that we see on Earth.’
In the study, the researchers studied polygon-shaped dessication features similar to those seen on Earth.
These cracks, called dessication mudcracks, are created when wet sediment is exposed to air. As the cracks discovered in Gale Crater are situated near the center of where a lake bed once sat, the team says the water levels must have experienced dramatic fluctuations. Over time, the water rose and fell, leaving its center exposed. Mars’ ‘Squid Cove’ is shown
The analysis confirmed they were formed through exposure to air, as opposed to another mechanism.
According to Stein, ‘the mudcracks are exciting because they add context to our understanding of this ancient lacustrine system.’
‘We are capturing a moment in time,’ Stein says.
‘This research is just a chapter in a story that Curiosity has been building since the beginning of its mission.’
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