Mars once had a lake

about three years ago mars 2020 mission Developed by NASA. It primarily focuses on sending the Perseverance rover to Mars, which will remain there throughout its lifetime. Three main objectives: to study Mars’ potential, to investigate its past, and to find traces of possible biological life.

Perseverance arrives on Mars on February 18, 2021Its landing occurred in Jezero Crater, a crater formed by a meteorite impact on the surface of Mars, 47,500 meters in diameter, at the western edge of Isidis Planitia, a plain located in a giant impact basin.

careful choice

This was the crater where Perseverance spent the first years of its life, traveling about 25 km and collecting at least 23 samples of Mars soil will be brought back to our planet,

The choice of this area for the rover’s landing is clearly not a coincidence. Indeed, according to the most recognized historical and geological reconstructions, This crater was once a large lake of liquid water, Water reached this basin via a river that brought sediment to the lake, which was deposited at the bottom of the crater.

We know the epicenter of the lake, it dried up, but over time sediments gave rise to some Distinctive geological features are still evident on the crater’s surface.,

To analyze these sediments, Perseverance made measurements with the RIMFAX instrument (Radar Imager for Mars Subsurface Experiment). A radar mounted on the rear of the rover is capable of detecting the composition of the Martian soil and mapping the subsurface to a depth of 10 meters with a resolution of 15 to 30 centimeters., Therefore, it is able to provide us with a vertical profile of the first meter of Martian soil.

Between May 10 and December 8, 2022, Perseverance traveled through the contact zone between the bottom of the crater and the river delta that feeds it, Measuring subsoil every 10 centimeters,

The ancient existence of the lake is clear from the data collected.

The radar measurements they made confirmed the existence of a lake of water in the past. The stratification of the soil also made it possible to reconstruct the history of this lake, In fact, a sequence of subsequent erosion and deposition was discovered. Additionally, a layer of horizontal sediment deposited on a previously eroded and cratered surface was observed at depth. So that, A series of sediment layers were deposited in this area at different time intervals, with intermediate erosion stages between them.,

Just a few weeks ago, the results of this analysis were published in an article in Science Advances.

According to the authors of the work, the sequence and stratification of events is due to Two distinct periods of sediment deposition associated with periods of erosion induced by mass changes,

Obviously, what has been observed near the mouth of the river is considered valid for the rest of the crater as well.

But the work of researchers does not end here Samples collected by Perseverance still need to be analyzed and are believed to be returned to Earth For the Mars sample return mission, which, however, may be canceled due to some budget cuts.