Nasa’s Curiosity rover uncovers new clues of Mars’ warm, wet history

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A mineral, known as the cidite, which has been discovered in the samples of rocky cliffs collected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Mars, provides the planet’s hot, difficult evidence of the past.

This important detection shows that Mars once hosted the water for water and had the right conditions to maintain life.

Curiosity Rover, who has been looking for Mars since its landing in 2012, identified the citrite in samples taken from three different locations inside the Gail Charrical between 2022 and 2023.

Iron carbonate minerals, cidrite, indicate that Mars once had a thick environment with carbon dioxide. The greenhouse gas may have helped to heat the planet, and will enable the presence of liquid water at its surface.

The so -called sidelines are found in Mars surface in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) rover when it provided fresh evidence of the hot and wet ancient past of the planet when it proudly proud of the bodies and potentially passionate life.

The characteristics of the landscape, which translates the remnants of the ancient river channels and potentially vast oceans by scientists, further support the idea that liquid water flows freely.

Carbon dioxide is the central greenhouse gas organizing climate on the ground, as it is on Mars and Venice. Its presence in the atmosphere causes the heat to heat, heat the climate.

Until now, evidence identifying the Martin environment was rich in carbon dioxide.

The assumption is that when the environment – for not fully understood reasons – is made of thin and appetite with this gas, rich in thick and carbon dioxide, the carbon carbonate is enters the planet in the planet layer through the geo chemical process.

The samples obtained by curiosity, which go down into the rock to study the formation of its chemicals and minerals from 1.2 to 1.6 inches (3-4 cm), weigh the idea. The samples contain 10.5 % of the cidite in terms of weight, such as car -sized, a six -wheeled rover on a ship on the ship.

“One of the longtime mysteries in the evolution and housing study of Martin planets is: If there is a need for carbon dioxide to warm the planet and stabilize liquid water, why are there so much detection of carbonate minerals on the Martin surface?” NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Currosity Rover team participated in the Currosity Rover team and the main author of the study published in Journal Science on Thursday, said Benjamin Totulo, the University of Calgary Geo Chemist Benjamin Totulo.

Totulo added, “Models have predicted that carbonate minerals should be widely spread. But to date, a rover -based investigation and a martin -level satellite -based orbital survey have found little evidence of their presence.”

Since similar rocks have been identified on Mars globally by Rover, researchers suspect that it also has an abundance of carbonate minerals and may have a large part of carbon dioxide that once heated Mars.

It is believed that the Gal Corter Soldst Stone – Sand stones and clay stones were deposited about 3.5 and a half years ago, when it was a lake’s place and before the Martin climate had a dramatic change.

“Scientists at the University of Chicago and Stera Institute and co -author of the study, Edwin Stone expert and co -author of the study, said Edwin leaves,” changing the surface of Mars from more and more residence in the past. “

“We do not know the reason for this change, but in Mars today there is a very thin carbon dioxide environment, and there is evidence that in the past the environment was more thicker. It takes a premium to understand where carbon was gone, so a major unexpected accumulation of carbon -rich material is an important new indication.”

Raver’s results offer carbon cycle insights on ancient Mars.

On the ground, the volcanoes help carbon dioxide in the environment, and the gas surface waters – mainly absorb through the sea – and the lime is combined with elements like Cal Calcium to make the rock. Through the geological process called plate ticketonics, the rock is re -heated and carbon is eventually re -released into the atmosphere by the volcano. Mars, however, lacks plate tectonics.

“The main feature of the ancient Martine Carbon Cycle that we have outlined in this study is that it was imbalance,” said Totolo.

“Martine climate evolution models can now add our new analysis, and, in turn, help maintain the role of this balanced carbon cycle in maintaining the history of the planets of Mars and ultimately losing,” Tutolo said.