By Dr. Janice Bishop, Senior Scientist
SETI Institute
October 3, 2011
Two small depressions on Mars found to be rich in minerals formed by water could have been places able to support life relatively recently in the planet's history. These findings were published October 1, 2011, in the journal Geology. The team, led by Catherine Weitz of the Planetary Science Institute, studied layered outcrops at the western region of the huge Valles Marineris canyon system.
Many ancient clay-rich rocks have been found on Mars in recent years. What is interesting about this study at Noctis Labyrinthus is that we see alternating rock layers of clays and sulfates, including some clay outcrops as young as 2-3 billion years old, rather than the more common 4 billion year old clay rocks. Dr. Weitz reports, "This indicates a different water environment in these troughs or depressions relative to what was happening elsewhere on Mars."
Each trough probably experienced multiple water-infilling episodes at variable pH levels that deposited clays under neutral to basic conditions and sulfate minerals under acidic conditions. This dynamic geochemical environment indicates that these two troughs are unique and could have provided a more habitable region on Mars at a time when drier conditions dominated the surface.
The team and I mapped hydrated minerals within each trough using high-resolution images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera and hyperspectral data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft, combined with Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) to determine elevations and view geometric relationships between units.
This area would be a fantastic place to investigate with a rover, but the rugged terrain would be challenging for both landing and driving. I'm continuing to investigate sites of interesting aqueous mineralogy on Mars in order to search for possible sites where life may have been possible.
Learn more about Janice and her research in her Q&A, "Mars: Back through the Looking Glass."
- Log in to post comments
More like this
The dog and pony show about Mars never ceases to amaze me. I have seen plants so many times in the Mars Exploration Rover photos that I have become almost uninterested in seeing them. At least the artifacts in the photos provide a little more variety than the general ground covers and grasses I see.
You madam should be ashamed of yourself for not speaking the truth. Mars has life, and clear evidence of alien artifacts on it. You as a scientist must have spotted many of the things I am talking about but you keep silent. Shame!
Ãevre ve çevre sorunları (çoÄunlukla) odaklı geçen yıl ya da öylesine. Ä°nsanların son zamanlarda gezegenimizin iyi olmak ve nasıl ki, insanlar, toprak bakımı hakkında endiÅe baÅladı. Birçok kiÅi, biz kirletici ve çevreye zarar devam ederseniz, gezegenimizin yaÅam tüm çok yakında sürdürmek mümkün olmayacaÄını korku.
Wow! This is incredibly interesting! For so many years, people have wondered about the possibility of life on other planets existing or having existed. I feel that this article is very timely. The environment and environmental problems have been focused on (mainly) for the past year or so. People recently began worrying about the well being of our planet and about how we, humans, are taking care of the earth. Many people fear that if we continue polluting and harming the environment, our planet will not be able to sustain life all too soon. Until recently, it was believed that the Earth was the only planet able to sustain life (reasonably). However, this article, and the idea that life may have existed on Mars previously make me wonder whether or not it is possible for scientists to make advances on Mars so that it can support life once again, whether in dire circumstances (Earth is completely polluted) or as, say, a vacation spot! Also, I wonder, if life did exist on mars, was it similar to human life? Were the creatures advanced or were they the steriotypical "aliens"?
i like science very much