Realitarakyat.com – NASA Perseverance rover confirms the existence of ancient lakes on Mars. In research published in the journal Science Advances on Friday (26/1), the lake was called Jerezo Crater.
A number of data confirm the existence of ancient lakes on Mars. Subsurface scans taken by a six-wheeled, car-sized rover traversed the crater floor into an adjacent bed of sediment-like fabric.
Sounds from the rover’s RIMFAX radar instrument allow researchers to peer underground. They got a cross-sectional view of rock layers 20 meters deep.
“[Penampang lapisan] almost like looking at a road cut,” said lead study author David Paige, citing Reuters.
These layers provide clear evidence that waterborne soil sediments were deposited in Jerezo Crater and the deltas from the rivers flowing through it. This mechanism is similar to lakes on Earth.
The findings also strengthen what previous research had predicted. Cold, barren, ‘dead’ Mars may once have been warm, wet and habitable.
Good data from radar observations by rover robots, orbital images and other data have led scientists to theorize that parts of Mars were once covered in water. It is possible that this planet harbors microbial life.
It is estimated that the Jerezo sediments were formed about 3 billion years ago.
Previously, researchers revealed rocks that were volcanic in nature, not sedimentary. The two studies do not conflict. Volcanic rocks show signs of change due to exposure to water.
Radar readings also found signs of erosion before and after the formation of the sediment layer. Paige said there was volcanic rock at the landing site.
“The real news here is that now we’ve driven into the delta and now we’re seeing evidence of lake sediment, which is one of the main reasons we came to this location. So it’s a happy story in that regard,” he said. (ndi)
2024-01-28 08:45:20
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