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NEW YORK: Gigantic flash floods once passed through Gale Crater on Mars’ equator about four billion years ago, according to a study that suggests the possibility that life may have existed on the red planet.
The research, published recently in Scientific Reports, evaluated data collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover – launched in November 2011 – and found that “gigantic flash floods”, likely caused by the heat of a meteor impact, have freed the ice. stored on the Martian surface.
Based on the analysis, scientists, including those at Cornell University in the United States, said these floods of “unimaginable magnitude” created gigantic ripples that are telltale geological structures familiar to scientists on Earth.
“We identified megafloods for the first time using detailed sedimentological data observed from the Curiosity rover,” said study co-author Alberto G Fairen of Cornell University.
According to the scientists, geological features, including the work of water and wind, have been frozen in time on Mars for about four billion years.
They said these features convey processes that have shaped the surface of both Earth and Mars in the past.
This case includes the presence of gigantic wave-shaped features in the sedimentary layers of the Gale crater, often called “megaripples” or “antidunes” that are about 30 feet tall and spaced about 450 feet from each other, lead author Ezat Heydari, a physics professor at Jackson State University in the United States, noted.
Antidunes are indicative of megafloods flowing at the bottom of Mars’ Gale crater about four billion years ago, which are identical to features formed by the melting of ice on Earth about two million years ago, Heydari added.
According to the study, the most likely cause of the flooding of Mars was the melting of the ice caused by the heat generated by a large impact, which released carbon dioxide and methane from the planet’s icy reservoirs.
The water vapor and gas release combined to produce a short period of warm, humid conditions on Mars, the researchers said.
They believe the condensation may have formed clouds of water vapor, which in turn likely created torrential rains, possibly across the planet.
This water may have entered the Gale Crater and combined with the water flowing from Mount Sharp into the Gale Crater to produce gigantic flash floods, the scientists added.
The science team of the Curiosity rover had already established that Gale Crater once had persistent lakes and streams in the ancient past.
Researchers believe these long-lived bodies of water are good indicators that the crater, as well as Mount Sharp within it, were capable of supporting microbial life.
“The beginning of Mars was an extremely active planet from a geological point of view. The planet had the necessary conditions to support the presence of liquid water on the surface –
and on Earth, where there is water, there is life, “Fairen said.
The research, published recently in Scientific Reports, evaluated data collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover – launched in November 2011 – and found that “gigantic flash floods”, likely caused by the heat of a meteor impact, have freed the ice. stored on the Martian surface.
Based on the analysis, scientists, including those at Cornell University in the United States, said these floods of “unimaginable magnitude” created gigantic ripples that are telltale geological structures familiar to scientists on Earth.
“We identified megafloods for the first time using detailed sedimentological data observed from the Curiosity rover,” said study co-author Alberto G Fairen of Cornell University.
According to the scientists, geological features, including the work of water and wind, have been frozen in time on Mars for about four billion years.
They said these features convey processes that have shaped the surface of both Earth and Mars in the past.
This case includes the presence of gigantic wave-shaped features in the sedimentary layers of the Gale crater, often called “megaripples” or “antidunes” that are about 30 feet tall and spaced about 450 feet from each other, lead author Ezat Heydari, a physics professor at Jackson State University in the United States, noted.
Antidunes are indicative of megafloods flowing at the bottom of Mars’ Gale crater about four billion years ago, which are identical to features formed by the melting of ice on Earth about two million years ago, Heydari added.
According to the study, the most likely cause of the flooding of Mars was the melting of the ice caused by the heat generated by a large impact, which released carbon dioxide and methane from the planet’s icy reservoirs.
The water vapor and gas release combined to produce a short period of warm, humid conditions on Mars, the researchers said.
They believe the condensation may have formed clouds of water vapor, which in turn likely created torrential rains, possibly across the planet.
This water may have entered the Gale Crater and combined with the water flowing from Mount Sharp into the Gale Crater to produce gigantic flash floods, the scientists added.
The science team of the Curiosity rover had already established that Gale Crater once had persistent lakes and streams in the ancient past.
Researchers believe these long-lived bodies of water are good indicators that the crater, as well as Mount Sharp within it, were capable of supporting microbial life.
“The beginning of Mars was an extremely active planet from a geological point of view. The planet had the necessary conditions to support the presence of liquid water on the surface –
and on Earth, where there is water, there is life, “Fairen said.
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