NASA
Ripples present in Gale Crater suggest that water flowed freely and for a significant period of time.
NASA’s Curiosity rover has been exploring Mars since 2012, and many have been talking about the existence of ancient lakes on the red planet.
Now, scientists are one step closer to confirming their suspicions. Curiosity found small ripples like those observed in sandy lake beds on Earth.
The authors of the new published in Science Advances this month believe that these geological ripples, which formed 3.7 billion years ago, may have been created by wind-driven water moving back and forth across the surface.
Rather than being , as was believed to be the case, this research suggests that the water would be “open,” not “covered.”
These ancient ripples are located in Gale Crater and are made up of two sets, and are frequently observed on Earth — in beaches and lake bedsplaces where water runs freely.
The team was able to create computer models from the ripples they found to try to figure out the size of the possible lake. They discovered that this would be shallow, less than 2 meters.
As the two formations date from slightly different periods, this raises the hypothesis that the hot, dense atmosphere occurred at multiple periods or over an extended period.
According to Universe Today, the ripples discovered by Curiosity on Mars are the biggest advance to date with regard to research into the previous existence of life on the red planet.
