Curiosity Rover finds evidence of ancient carbon cycle on Mars
Research from the Curiosity Rover on Mars has found evidence that the red planet may have had a carbon cycle in its ancient past. This brings scientists closer to discovering whether or not our nearest neighbour was ever capable of supporting life.
The paper, published earlier this month in the Journal, Science, reveals that the data from three of the Curiosity Rover drill sites had siderite, an iron carbonate material, within sulfate-rich layers of Mount Sharp in Gale Crater.
“The discovery of large carbon deposits in Gale Crater represents both a surprising and important breakthrough in our understanding of the geologic and atmospheric evolution of Mars,” says lead author Dr. Ben Tutolo, PhD, an associate professor with the Department of Earth, Energy and Environment in the Faculty of Science at the University of Calgary
“The abundance of highly soluble salts in these rocks and similar deposits mapped over much of Mars has been used as evidence of the ‘great drying’ of Mars during its dramatic shift from a warm and wet early Mars to its current, cold and dry state,” says Tutolo. Sedimentary carbonate has often been predicted to form under the CO2 rich ancient atmosphere of Mars, but, according to Tutolo, identification has previously been sparse.
NASA’s Curiosity Rover touched down on Mars on 5 August 2012, and has covered over 34 kilometres on the planet’s surface. The discovery of carbonate suggests that its atmosphere contained enough CO2 to support liquid water on the surface.
Future missions, NASA says, as well as analysis of other sulfate-rich regions could confirm the findings of the Curiosity Rover, and help us better understand Mars’ early history, as well as how it changed and lost its atmosphere.
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