Ancient Mars was Cool and Relatively Wet, New Study Suggests

Jul 11, 2024 by News Staff

In a new study, planetary scientists found strong similarities between soils found in Gale Crater on Mars and those of Canada’s Newfoundland, a cold subarctic climate.



X-ray amorphous material comprises 15-73 wt.% of sedimentary rocks and eolian sediments in Gale Crater. This material is variably siliceous and iron rich but aluminum poor. The presence of volatiles is consistent with the existence of incipient weathering products. To better understand the implications of this material for past aqueous conditions on Mars, Feldman et al. investigated X-ray amorphous material formation and longevity within terrestrial iron rich soils with varying ages and environmental conditions using bulk and selective dissolution methods, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.


Scientists often use soil to depict environmental history, as the minerals present can tell the story of landscape evolution through time. Understanding more about how these materials formed could help answer long-standing questions about historical conditions on the red planet.

The soils and rocks of Gale Crater provide a record of Mars’ climate between 3 and 4 billion years ago, during a time of relatively abundant water on the planet — and the same time period that saw life first appear on Earth.

“Gale Crater is a paleo lakebed — there was obviously water present. But what were the environmental conditions when the water was there?” said Dr. Anthony Feldman, a soil scientist and geomorphologist at Desert Research Institute.

“We’re never going to find a direct analog to the Martian surface, because conditions are so different between Mars and Earth. But we can look at trends under terrestrial conditions and use those to try to extrapolate to Martian questions.”

More:
https://www.sci.news/space/cool-relatively-wet-ancient-mars-13092.html