“Once a living planet? Traces of ancient lakes with liquid water were found on Mars January 16, 21:30 Share: The discovery of wave ripples became possible thanks to a detailed analysis of the images obtained by the Mars rover Curiosity (Photo: pixabay) Author: Kira Borysikhina Scientists made a sensational discovery while studying the data of the Mars rover Curiosity. Read also: Shall we find neighbors? Scientists now know for sure where to look for life on Mars Gale Crater has been discovered”, — write on: ua.news
The discovery of wave ripples was made possible thanks to a detailed analysis of images obtained by the Curiosity rover (Photo: pixabay)
Scientists made a sensational discovery while studying data from the Curiosity rover.
Gale Crater has revealed ancient ripples that formed on the bottom of lakes about 3.7 billion years ago. This suggests that the climate of early Mars was much warmer and wetter than previously thought.
“The shape of the ripples could have formed only under water that was open to the atmosphere and exposed to the wind,” the researchers say. This means that lakes of liquid water, free of ice, existed on Mars, which significantly expands our ideas about the potential population of the Red Planet in the past.
The discovery of wave ripples became possible thanks to a detailed analysis of images obtained by the Curiosity rover. Scientists have created computer models to determine the depth and size of ancient lakes. It turned out that they were relatively small and shallow, which, in turn, indicates the specific climatic conditions necessary for their existence.
This discovery is of great importance for planetology. It allows scientists to more accurately reconstruct the climatic history of Mars and understand what conditions were necessary for the emergence and support of life. In addition, the obtained data can help in planning future missions to Mars and searching for traces of ancient life.