Scientists identified evidence suggesting that liquid water once flowed openly on Mars, indicating that the planet may have had habitable conditions for a longer period than previously believed. According to reports, NASA curiosity Images captured of curl patterns in the Gale crater, a sign that water interacted with the Martian atmosphere in ancient times. The discovery challenges previous models, suggesting that surface waters on Mars were always trapped under the ice. Experts have long discussed the nature of Martian water, but new discoveries indicate that the planet’s lakes have been exposed to the air, allowing liquid water to exist in a previously confirmed manner by researchers.
Ripping patterns indicate open waters
According to the to study Published in scientific advances, the formations observed by curiosity resemble wave ripples commonly found in the beds on the earth. The standards were documented in two separate areas of Gale Craterthat the space vehicle has explored since 2012. The researchers believe in the structures, measuring approximately 6 millimeters high and spaced between 4 and 5 centimeters away, were shaped by wind and water in a shallow Martian lake.
Claire Monndro, Caltech sedimentologist and the main author of the study, explained In an official statement that ripples could only have been formed by water exposed to the atmosphere and influenced by the wind. The results suggest that Mars has already had a denser atmosphere capable of supporting surface waters for a prolonged period.
Implications for Martian habitability
As per Live science, reports indicate that the gale crater beds date from about 3.7 billion years, extending the deadline in which Mars could have supported microbial life. If liquid water persisted longer than previously thought, favorable conditions for life may have existed for a long time. Experts suggest that the presence of surface waters is a crucial factor in the assessment if Mars once sheltered life.
Mars ended up losing its atmosphere and surface water due to solar radiation, with scientists attributing the change to the weakened magnetic field of the planet. More than billions of years, carbon dioxide and water have been stripped in space, turning Mars into the dry and sterile landscape observed today. The last discovery provides new ideas about Mars’s climate history and raises more questions about its potential to support life in the past.