Examination of new images of Martian rocks and sediments captured by the Curiosity rover suggest that millions of years ago, Gale Crater was covered by a rich river system with deltas and large lakes . The finding has been published in the journal Science .
Using data on the ground from Curiosity, scientists have been able to test the hypothesis that the largest impact craters on the red planet may have held large amounts of water in the past , giving us new information about their habitability conditions. before becoming dry and arid.
“The landforms in the northern part of Gale Crater show series of sedimentary rocks. Based on the images taken by the Curiosity rover, we interpret these outcrops as evidence of past river, delta and lake environments, ”explains John Grotzinger, co-author of the study.
The rover discovered within the 154-km-diameter Gale crater so-called “clinoforms” (layers with singular geometry in the submerged area of deltas) not previously observed from space orbiters. The analysis of the sediments determined that the surface of the basin had been enlarging with the passage of time ; the erosion of the walls of the Gale crater generated gravel and sand that was transported to the south and later to the interior of the crater, to end up becoming small grains of sand forming the limits of an ancient lake where the sediments could reach a thickness of at least 75 meters .
“Although the presence of water was probably transient, the ancient individual lakes in this region were stable for 100 to 10,000 years , potentially long enough to support life,” the authors clarify.
