Sci/Tech Curiosity Mars rover 'solves mountain riddle'

tom_mai78101

The Helper Connoisseur / Ex-MineCraft Host
Staff member
Reaction score
1,633
Scientists working on Nasa's Curiosity rover think they can now explain why there is a huge mountain at the robot's landing site in Mars's Gale Crater.

They believe it is the remains of sediments laid down in successive lakes that filled the deep bowl, probably over tens of millions of years.

Only later did winds dig out an encircling plain to expose the 5km-high peak we see today.

If true, this has major implications for past climates on the Red Planet.

It implies the world had to have been far warmer and wetter in its first two billion years than many people had previously recognised.

Ancient Mars, says the Curiosity team, must have enjoyed a vigorous global hydrological cycle, involving rains or snows, to maintain such humid conditions.

One tantalising consequence of this is the possibility that the planet may even have featured an ocean somewhere on its surface.

Read more here. (BBC)
 
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.

      The Helper Discord

      Members online

      No members online now.

      Affiliates

      Hive Workshop NUON Dome World Editor Tutorials

      Network Sponsors

      Apex Steel Pipe - Buys and sells Steel Pipe.
      Top