Mars: A History of Alternating Wet and Dry Climates Conducive to Life

2023-08-10 08:32:33
Research: Mars once experienced alternating wet and dry climates that were conducive to life There is evidence of alternating wet and dry seasons similar to Earth’s, suggesting that Mars may have had the right conditions to support life. Although the surface of Mars is now a barren land, it is believed that billions of years ago, there were many rivers and vast lakes on the surface of Mars. Since 2012, the Curiosity rover has been exploring the giant Gale Crater on Mars, which is believed to have once been a lake. At present, there is a nearly 6,000-meter-high mountain made of sediment in the center of the impact crater. “We realized very quickly that we were working in lake and river sediments without knowing them It depends on which climate type.” When Curiosity climbed the slopes of Sediment Mountain in 2021, it found hexagonal patterns of salt deposits in the soil that date back nearly 4 billion years. Curiosity’s instruments identified the patterns as cracks in the dried mud, according to the study, published in the international scientific journal Nature. “When the lake dries up, cracks appear in the soil, and when the lake refills, those cracks close,” Harban explained. Just repeat this process enough times, and the cracks form a hexagonal arrangement. This is “the first solid evidence that Mars has a cyclical climate,” Harban said. According to the research team, the regular occurrence of rainy and dry seasons like the earth is expected to provide the necessary conditions for the formation of life.
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