{"id":844,"date":"2023-02-09T19:02:14","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T19:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/?p=844"},"modified":"2023-02-09T19:02:15","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T19:02:15","slug":"nasas-curiosity-finds-surprise-clues-to-mars-watery-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/news\/nasas-curiosity-finds-surprise-clues-to-mars-watery-past\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Curiosity Finds Surprise Clues to Mars\u2019 Watery Past"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When NASA\u2019s Curiosity rover arrived at the \u201csulfate-bearing unit\u201d last fall, scientists thought they\u2019d seen the last evidence that lakes once covered this region of Mars. That\u2019s because the rock layers here formed in drier settings than regions explored earlier in the mission. The area\u2019s sulfates \u2013 salty minerals \u2013 are thought to have been left behind when water was drying to a trickle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So Curiosity\u2019s team was surprised to discover the mission\u2019s clearest evidence yet of ancient water ripples that formed within lakes. Billions of years ago, waves on the surface of a shallow lake stirred up sediment at the lake bottom, over time creating rippled textures left in rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Curiosity Rover Finds New Clues to Mars\u2019 Watery Past\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NuoR4XMmJO0?list=PLTiv_XWHnOZqsp7on1ErHOTweF5eHzOTt\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is the best evidence of water and waves that we\u2019ve seen in the entire mission,\u201d said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity\u2019s project scientist at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. \u201cWe climbed through thousands of feet of lake deposits and never saw evidence like this \u2013 and now we found it in a place we expected to be dry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Layers of History<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 2014, the rover has been ascending the foothills of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain that was once laced with lakes and streams that would have provided a rich environment for microbial life, if any ever formed on the Red Planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full_width\/public\/thumbnails\/image\/e2-pia25732-curiositys-360-degree-1041.jpg?itok=0axJwHvJ\" alt=\"Rippled texture on the surface of Mars\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Mount Sharp is made up of layers, with the oldest at the bottom of the mountain and the youngest at the top. As the rover ascends, it progresses along a Martian timeline, allowing scientists to study how Mars evolved from a planet that was more Earth-like in its ancient past, with a warmer climate and plentiful water, to the freezing desert it is today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having climbed nearly a half-mile above the mountain\u2019s base, Curiosity has found these rippled rock textures preserved in what\u2019s nicknamed the \u201cMarker Band\u201d \u2013 a thin layer of dark rock that stands out from the rest of Mount Sharp. This rock layer is so hard that Curiosity hasn\u2019t been able to\u00a0drill a sample\u00a0from it despite several attempts. It\u2019s not the first time Mars has been unwilling to share a sample: Lower down the mountain, on \u201cVera Rubin Ridge,\u201d Curiosity had to try three times before\u00a0finding a spot\u00a0soft enough to drill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Scientists will be looking for softer rock in the week ahead. But even if they never get a sample from this unusual strip of rock, there are other sites they\u2019re eager to explore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full_width\/public\/thumbnails\/image\/e3-pia25733-curiosity-views-gediz-valles-2000.jpg?itok=11L_6RfU\" alt=\"At the bottom of this valley, called Gediz Vallis, is a mound of boulders and debris \"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Martian Clues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Far ahead of the Marker Band, scientists can see another clue to the history of Mars\u2019 ancient water in a valley named Gediz Vallis. Wind carved the valley, but a channel running through it that starts higher up on Mount Sharp is thought to have been eroded by a small river. Scientists suspect wet landslides also occurred here, sending car-size boulders and debris to the bottom of the valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because the resulting debris pile sits on top of all the other layers in the valley, it\u2019s clearly one of the youngest features on Mount Sharp. Curiosity got a glimpse of this debris at Gediz Vallis Ridge twice last year but could only survey it from a distance. The rover team hopes to have another chance to view it later this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One more clue within the Marker Band that has fascinated the team is an unusual rock texture likely caused by some sort of regular cycle in the weather or climate, such as dust storms. Not far from the rippled textures are\u00a0rocks made of layers\u00a0that are regular in their spacing and thickness. This kind of rhythmic pattern in rock layers on Earth often stems from atmospheric events happening at periodic intervals. It\u2019s possible the rhythmic patterns in these Martian rocks resulted from similar events, hinting at changes in the Red Planet\u2019s ancient climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe wave ripples, debris flows, and rhythmic layers all tell us that the story of wet-to-dry on Mars wasn\u2019t simple,\u201d Vasavada said. \u201cMars\u2019 ancient climate had a wonderful complexity to it, much like Earth\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full_width\/public\/thumbnails\/image\/e4-pia25731-chemcam-mosaic-1041.jpg?itok=5gqmTeee\" alt=\"Curiosity used its ChemCam instrument to view Gediz Vallis Ridge\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We recommend you: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/news\/progress-underway-on-moon-rockets-for-nasas-crewed-artemis-missions\/\">Progress Underway on Moon Rockets for NASA\u2019s Crewed Artemis Missions<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/jpl\/nasa-s-curiosity-finds-surprise-clues-to-mars-watery-past\">NASA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When NASA\u2019s Curiosity rover arrived at the \u201csulfate-bearing unit\u201d last fall, scientists thought they\u2019d seen the last evidence that lakes once covered this region of Mars. That\u2019s because the rock layers here formed in drier settings than regions explored earlier in the mission. The area\u2019s sulfates \u2013 salty minerals \u2013 are thought to have been [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[56,55,24],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":846,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions\/846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}