Despite the current unfriendly appearance of the surface of Mars, it does appear that there are some commonalities with Earth. Researcher Shoshanna Cole from Cornell University (USA) has found evidence of the presence of acid fog on our neighboring red planet .
Using different data collected by instruments aboard the Spirit rover in 2003, the planetary geology expert focused her study on rocky outcrops on Cumberland Ridge and the summit of Husband Hill in the Columbia Hills of Gusev Crater on Mars. This led him to discover some interesting patterns, since the chemical composition of these rocks (determined by the X-ray spectrometer) is exactly the same , but the rocks looked different to all the other instruments in the rover , some being less and less crystalline, more amorphous, losing its structure.
If the rocks had the same chemical composition, it is because they were originally identical. “That makes us think that they were made of the same material when they started to appear. Then something happened to make them different from each other, ”explains Cole.
What happened?
Their hypothesis is that it is possible that acidic water vapors from volcanic eruptions (such as corrosive volcanic fog or “vog”) could have altered the rocks in an area of approximately 40,000 square meters on Husband Hill in this area of Gusev Crater. This acid mist dissolved some minerals forming a gel. Thus, once the water evaporated, it could give rise to these very particular agglomerations on the Martian surface.
The study has been presented to the Geological Society of America .
