The research study team used data from the rovers ChemCam instrument, which was developed at Los Alamos and CNES (the French area firm), to tape chemistry and images from the 4 cameras on the rover in order to try to find chemical and physical changes to the rocks.
” First we saw a big number of dark-toned, rounded blemishes throughout the rock, and these features generally form in the soft sediments that are found in active lakes in the world, so thats likely how they formed on Mars,” Gasda said.
Then the rover observed big dark and white veins with weird chemistry, including high iron and manganese dark veins, and fluorine-rich lighter veins.
” These veins are very perplexing. We think, in the early stages of the crater, when the preliminary impact warmed the rocks surrounding the crater, groundwater flowed through those rocks. We think this warm water likely extracted aspects such as fluorine from these rocks,” Gasda said. “High concentrations of fluorine are usually just found in hydrothermal systems in the world. We did not expect to discover veins with chemistry like this in Glen Torridon.”.
These hydrothermal systems could help scientists better understand habitability and prebiotic chemistry on Mars.
” If hydrothermal systems like these were active during the time of the lake, as we assumed in the paper, it would be very amazing,” Gasda stated.
These systems would bring redox elements (including iron, nickel, sulfur, and manganese) to the surface area of Mars, and microorganisms use these elements to derive energy. In the world, deep sea hydrothermal vents can produce hydrogen and methane gas, and some more complex organic molecules; these are places that could have synthesized the basic foundation of life on ancient Earth.
” The possibility of this existing on Mars is extremely cool,” Gasda stated.
These veins may be linked to other veins and nodules with enigmatic chemistry that have been found throughout the crater previously in the mission. It could be that the crater was modified on a bigger scale with groundwater that was related to the initial impact of the crater.
The rock below the crater likely stayed warmer for longer than scientists initially thought, which would represent the higher concentration of components such as fluorine in the groundwater. This groundwater might have circulated extensively in the crater, forming other veins of differing chemistry for a long period of time after the crater initially formed.
Reference: Overview of the Morphology and Chemistry of Diagenetic Features in the Clay-Rich Glen Torridon Unit of Gale Crater, Mars” by Patrick J. Gasda, J. Comellas, A. Essunfeld, D. Das, A. B. Bryk, E. Dehouck, S. P. Schwenzer, L. Crossey, K. Herkenhoff, J. R. Johnson, H. Newsom, N. L. Lanza, W. Rapin, W. Goetz, P.-Y. Meslin, J. C. Bridges, R. Anderson, G. David, S. M. R. Turner, M. T. Thorpe, L. Kah, J. Frydenvang, R. Kronyak, G. Caravaca, A. Ollila, S. Le Mouélic, M. Nellessen, M. Hoffman, D. Fey, A. Cousin, R. C. Wiens, S. M. Clegg, S. Maurice, O. Gasnault, D. Delapp and A. Reyes-Newell, 21 April 2022, Journal of Geophysical Research Planets.DOI: 10.1029/ 2021JE007097.
Financing: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
” The primary reason that the rover was sent to Mars was to examine this region so we can understand the transition from an early, warm and wet Mars to a cold and dry one,” stated Patrick Gasda, of Los Alamos National Laboratorys Space and Remote Sensing group and lead author on the research study. “This area most likely represents the last stages of a wet Mars, and we want to understand the lake sediments in order to provide us a baseline for what happened right before Mars environment changed. It turns out this was a really active time in Mars history.”.
NASAs Curiosity Mars rover took this selfie at an area nicknamed “Mary Anning” after a 19th-century English paleontologist. We believe, in the early phases of the crater, when the preliminary effect heated up the rocks surrounding the crater, groundwater streamed through those rocks.
A picture of a rock called “Ben Hee,” taken with the ChemCam instrument. It shows bedrock filled with dark nodules, which normally form in soft sediments found in active lakes in the world. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/ LANL/IRAP-CNES.
ChemCam played an essential role in examining new data.
The very first study of the Glen Torridon region in Mars Gale crater reveals that groundwater modified the bedrock in the location during the worlds early history, which has essential implications for understanding past habitability and the possibility of finding previous life on Mars. The findings, which were released in a special concern of the Journal of Geophysical Research Planets, reveal some of the early discoveries from the Glen Torridon region.
” The primary factor that the rover was sent to Mars was to examine this area so we can understand the shift from an early, wet and warm Mars to a cold and dry one,” said Patrick Gasda, of Los Alamos National Laboratorys Space and Remote Sensing group and lead author on the study. “This region most likely represents the last phases of a wet Mars, and we wish to comprehend the lake sediments in order to give us a standard for what occurred right prior to Mars environment changed. It turns out this was a really active time in Mars history.”.
NASAs Curiosity Mars rover took this selfie at an area nicknamed “Mary Anning” after a 19th-century English paleontologist. Curiosity snagged 3 samples of drilled rock at this site on its way out of the Glen Torridon region, which scientists believe preserves an ancient habitable environment. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.
The NASA Curiosity rover checked out the ancient lakebed rocks within the Glen Torridon region from January 2019 to January 2021. Throughout that time, the rover observed signs that the bedrock was altered by groundwater, especially in the greater elevations along the rovers path. The rover likewise found a remarkably high number of nodules, veins, and other functions connected to water change of the bedrock.
