Space
NASA Reveals Ancient Lakes Existed on a Wet Mars 3 Billion Years Ago
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Oct 09, 2015 02:22 PM EDT
Scientists have learned a bit more about the water of Mars. They've presented their recent results of their quest to not just follow the water on Mars, but also understand where it came from, and how long it lasted on the surface of Mars long ago.
It appears that Mars once had a more massive atmosphere billions of years ago. In fact, it had an active hydrosphere that was capable of storing water in long-lived lakes.
So far, Curiosity has been exploring Gale Crater, which is estimated to be between 3.8 billion and 3.6 billion years old, since August 2012. In mid-September 2014, the rover reached the foothills of Aeolis Mons, a three-mile-high layered mountain nicknamed "Mount Sharp." There, the rover found evidence that lakes existed in this region. However, the series of long-lived lakes are not predicted by existing models, which struggle to get temperatures above freezing.
"Whether it was snowfall or rain, you have geologic evidence for that moisture accumulating in the highlands of the Gale Crater rim," said John Grotzinger, one of the researchers, in a news release. In the case of the Gale Crater, at least some of the water was supplied by the highlands that form the crater rim, but groundwater discharge is unlikely in this area. "Right on the other side of Gale's northern rim are the Northern Plains. Some have made the argument that there was a northern ocean sitting out there, and that's one way to get the moisture that you need to match what we're seeing in the rocks."
Currently, the researchers are still working on models and taking more samples in order to learn a bit more about Mars' early history.
The findings are published in the journal Science.
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First Posted: Oct 09, 2015 02:22 PM EDT
Scientists have learned a bit more about the water of Mars. They've presented their recent results of their quest to not just follow the water on Mars, but also understand where it came from, and how long it lasted on the surface of Mars long ago.
It appears that Mars once had a more massive atmosphere billions of years ago. In fact, it had an active hydrosphere that was capable of storing water in long-lived lakes.
So far, Curiosity has been exploring Gale Crater, which is estimated to be between 3.8 billion and 3.6 billion years old, since August 2012. In mid-September 2014, the rover reached the foothills of Aeolis Mons, a three-mile-high layered mountain nicknamed "Mount Sharp." There, the rover found evidence that lakes existed in this region. However, the series of long-lived lakes are not predicted by existing models, which struggle to get temperatures above freezing.
"Whether it was snowfall or rain, you have geologic evidence for that moisture accumulating in the highlands of the Gale Crater rim," said John Grotzinger, one of the researchers, in a news release. In the case of the Gale Crater, at least some of the water was supplied by the highlands that form the crater rim, but groundwater discharge is unlikely in this area. "Right on the other side of Gale's northern rim are the Northern Plains. Some have made the argument that there was a northern ocean sitting out there, and that's one way to get the moisture that you need to match what we're seeing in the rocks."
Currently, the researchers are still working on models and taking more samples in order to learn a bit more about Mars' early history.
The findings are published in the journal Science.
Related Stories
Pluto: NASA Announcing 'Amazing' Discovery (UPDATE)
NASA's Plan to Redirect Dangerous Asteroids from Earth (VIDEO)
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone