Traces of recent water activity found on Mars by Chinese rover
Friday’s discovery is a major breakthrough for understanding the evolutionary history of Mars as it provides future possible clues for extra-terrestrial life
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China's Zhurong rover has, for the first time, found traces of recent water activity on Mars, indicating that the Red Planet has a few areas where conditions are suitable for life to exist.
According to Chinese scientists, the rover, which landed on the Red Planet in 2021, detected evidence of liquid water on sand dunes at low latitudes, i.e., towards the equator and away from its poles.
Scientists have for long believed that Mars once had an earth-like climate and an ocean flowing across its surface about three billion years ago, very different from the present dry and barren surface.
What has perplexed them, however, is where all this water went, with scientists believing most of it likely became trapped in the planet's outer layer, or crust.
Till now, no evidence had been provided to show the presence of liquid water at low latitudes on Mars.
But Friday’s discovery is a major breakthrough for understanding the evolutionary history of Mars as it provides future possible clues for extra-terrestrial life.
The scientists, however, pointed out that the rover did not directly detect any water in the form of frost or ice, rather it observed salt-rich dunes with cracks and crusts.
They said that since temperatures on Mars oscillate wildly and spike in the mornings between 5 am and 6 am, the saltwater evaporated and left behind salt and other newly formed minerals that later seeped between the dune's sand grains, cementing them to form a crust.
“This is important for understanding the evolutionary history of the Martian climate, looking for a habitable environment, and providing key clues for the future search for life,” said Professor QIN Xiaoguang, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), who led the research.
He and his team used data obtained by the Zhurong rover's Navigation and Terrain Camera (NaTeCam), Multispectral Camera (MSCam), and its Mars Surface Composition Detector (MarSCoDe).
Their study revealed that the surface layer of the dune was rich in hydrated sulfates, hydrated silica, iron oxide minerals and possibly chlorides.
“According to the measured meteorological data by Zhurong and other Mars rovers, we inferred that these dune surface characteristics were related to the involvement of liquid saline water formed by the subsequent melting of frost/snow falling on the salt-containing dune surfaces when cooling occurs,' said Professor QIN.
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