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Sedimentary Signs of a Martian Lakebed (Shallow Part): This evenly layered rock imaged in 2014 by the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a pattern typical of a lake-floor sedimentary deposit near where flowing water entered a lake. Shallow and deep parts of an ancient Martian lake left different clues in mudstone formed from lakebed deposits.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
A long-lasting lake on ancient Mars provided stable environmental conditions that differed significantly from one part of the lake to another, according to a comprehensive look at findings from the first three-and-a-half years of NASA's Curiosity rover mission. While previous work had revealed the presence of a lake more than three billion years ago in Mars' Gale Crater, this study defines the lake's chemical conditions and uses Curiosity's powerful payload to determine that the lake was stratified.
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We're learning that in parts of the lake and at certain times, the water carried more oxygen," said Roger Wiens, a planetary scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and co-author of the study, published today in the journal Science. "This matters because it affects what minerals are deposited in the sediments, and also because oxygen is important for life. But we have to remember that at the time of Gale Lake, life on our planet had not yet adapted to using oxygen—photosynthesis had not yet been invented. Instead, the oxidation state of certain elements like manganese or iron may have been more important for life, if it ever existed on Mars. These oxidation states would be controlled by the dissolved oxygen content of the water."
"These were very different, co-existing environments in the same lake," said [lead author] Joel Hurowitz. ... "This type of oxidant stratification is a common feature of lakes on Earth, and now we've found it on Mars. The diversity of environments in this Martian lake would have provided multiple opportunities for different types of microbes to survive."
originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
a reply to: Ghost147
I'm just tired of slow announcement of "life on Mars" that is taking forever.
Imagine finding out that it's a false positive
originally posted by: MarioOnTheFly
a reply to: wildespace
Imagine finding out that it's a false positive
Or just imagine...if somebody else announces it before NASA
I wonder if they would ever allow that to happen.
Why wouldn't they
how could they prevent it if they wanted to?
originally posted by: MarioOnTheFly
a reply to: wildespace
i dont get it man....why is this relevant now ?
If you ever followed Mars anomalies thread...even a layman like me could see evidence of presence of water...whether it's from the past or more current times...is irrelevant for the question at hand. Mars had water...and probably has to this day.
Anyway...thanks NASA.