Mars may have experienced cycles of dry and wet seasons and thus may have been habitable at some point in the past, scientists say.
Analysis of mud-crack patterns on the early Martian surface by NASA’s Curiosity rover has shown that the presence of water is irregular or intermittent, meaning that water may exist for a while and then evaporate.
Scientists from France, the United States and Canada say in their study that this process may repeat until mud cracks form.
“These exciting observations of cracks in mature mud allow us to fill in some of the missing water history on Mars. How did Mars go from a warm, wet planet to the cold, dry place we know today?
“These mud cracks show us a transition period when there was less liquid water on the surface of Mars, but it was still active,” said Nina Lanza, principal investigator for the ChemCam instrument on the Curiosity rover and one of the authors of the study. .
On Earth, mud fractures are initially T-shaped. However, subsequent wetting and drying cycles may cause these cracks to take on a Y shape.
Therefore, the Y-shaped mud cracks on the surface of Mars could mean that the red planet goes through wet and dry cycles, scientists say in their study published in the journal Nature.
In addition, the cracks were only a few centimeters deep, suggesting that these wet-dry cycles may be seasonal, or may occur more quickly, such as through flash floods, they said.
Thus, these findings suggest that Mars may have once had a humid Earth-like climate, and that Mars may have been able to support life at some point.
Patrick Gasda, a co-author of the paper, said: “(The wet-dry cycle creates) the perfect place for the formation of the aggregated molecules needed for life, including proteins and RNA, if the right organic molecules are present at that location. “
“Wet periods bring molecules together, while dry periods drive reactions to form polymers,” Gasda said. “When these processes happen repeatedly at the same location, the chances of more complex molecules forming there increase.”
“These features point to the existence of a dry and wet environment on Earth that is extremely favorable for the development of organic molecules and potentially life. Taken together, these results give us a clearer picture of Mars as a habitable world,” Lanza said. .
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from syndicated feeds.)
Svlook
