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Mars is a mostly dry and dusty planet these days, but the more we study it, the more we learn about its watery past. Very watery, it would seem. New discoveries from the Curiosity rover point to megafloods in the planet’s past. NASA couldn’t see evidence of this event from space, but Curiosity was able to determine it by scanning Martian geology from the surface.
Curiosity has been on Mars since 2012, using a range of tools to photograph, sample and analyze small fragments of Mars. The team from Jackson State University, Cornell, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the University of Hawaii used camera data from Mars Hand Lens Image (MALI) and Mastcam cameras to detect features of Gale Crater called megaripples. These features are identical to the features formed by the melting of ice on Earth about 2 million years ago.
According to the new study, megaripples are large geological formations made up of sediments deposited in wave-like ripples. A catastrophic flood is the only event that scientists know can produce such characteristics. The team believe that at some point after the formation of Gale Crater, an even larger object impacted Mars. This hypothetical impact released enough heat to melt ice deposits on the planet, as well as releasing huge volumes of carbon monoxide and methane.
For a period following this impact 4 billion years ago, Mars would again be a warm, watery world. Rain would fall all over the world, causing floodwaters to flood in places like Gale Crater. The torrential downpour wiped out sentiment from Mount Sharp and into the bottom of Gale Crater, and that’s how we end up with the 9-meter megariples identified by the Curiosity team.
A false-color image of Mount Sharp inside the Gale Crater on Mars shows geologists an evolving planetary environment.
Scientists believe liquid water is essential for life as we understand it. Understanding when and where water existed on Mars could help guide the search for evidence of alien life. Curiosity can help point us in that direction, but it is not equipped to seek the evidence itself.
This is where the new Perseverance rover comes into play. The rover, which is based on the insanely successful Curiosity, is already en route to Mars after its launch in summer 2020. When it reaches Mars in February, the rover will use tools such as Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC ) and ChemCam to look for evidence of past or present life on Mars.
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