Curiosity showed that Mars experienced a major flood leading us to believe that life may have existed on the planet- Technology News, Firstpost

FP trend24 November 2020 8:55:16 IST

After analyzing data collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover, scientists discovered that a massive flood once struck the Gale crater on Mars, some four billion years ago. This suggests the extent of life existing on the Red Planet.

The joint project was led by scientists from Jackson State University, Cornell University, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Hawaii. The results were published in the magazine Nature Scientific Reports earlier this month.

This false-color composite image of Mount Sharp inside the Gale Crater on Mars shows geologists an evolving planetary environment. On Mars, the sky is not blue, but the image was made to resemble the Earth so that scientists could distinguish the layering layers. Image credit: NASA / JPL

The results show that the megaflood could be the result of the melting of frozen reservoirs on the planet due to the heat of a meteor impact. This impact was so huge that the “giant ripples” left geological footprints on the Martian surface. As happens on Earth, these geographical structures have remained intact after billions of years. The study’s co-author, Alberto G Fairén, said in a statement which were able to identify “megafloods for the first time using detailed sedimentological data observed by the Curiosity rover”.

According to lead author Ezat Heydari, the mega ripples were about 9.1 meters (30 feet) high and spaced about 137.1 meters (450 feet) from each other, and their shapes are identical to the features formed. about two million years since the melting of ice on Earth. does.

Since the mega flood occurred early in Mars’ life, following the release of carbon dioxide and methane from the planet’s icy basins, conditions must have been “hot and humid” in our neighboring world for a short time since then. on. The condensation must have led to the formation of clouds of water vapor, creating torrential rains possibly on a planetary scale. Then this water entered the Gale Crater and combined with the water already flowing down from Mount Sharp, causing massive flash floods.

As Curiosity has already done proved that lakes and streams once a reality on Mars, it had all the conditions necessary to support the presence of liquid water on the surface, which in turn indicated the presence of life.