
Los Alamos: A long-lasting lake on ancient Mars provided stable environmental conditions that differed significantly from one part of the lake to another, according to a comprehensive look at findings from the first three-and-a-half years of NASA’s Curiosity rover mission. While previous work had revealed the presence of a lake more than three billion years ago in the red planet‘ Gale Crater, this study defines the lake’s chemical conditions and uses Curiosity’s powerful payload to determine that the lake was stratified.
Stratified bodies of water exhibit sharp chemical or physical differences between deep water and shallow water. In Gale’s lake, the shallow water was richer in oxidants than deeper water was.
“These were very different, co-existing environments in the same lake,” said Joel Hurowitz of Stony Brook University, lead author of the report. “This type of oxidant stratification is a common feature of lakes on Earth, and now we’ve found it on Mars. The diversity of environments in this Martian lake would have provided multiple opportunities for different types of microbes to survive.”
Whether Mars has ever hosted any life is still unknown, but seeking signs of life on any planet, whether Earth, Mars or more-distant icy worlds, begins with a reconstruction of the environment to determine if it was capable of supporting life. NASA is using Curiosity to explore habitable environments on the ancient surface of Mars.
Over more than 1,700 sols (Martian days, which are 24 hours, 39 minutes long), Curiosity has traveled more than 16 km from the bottom of Gale crater part way up Mount Sharp near the center of the crater. Los Alamos National Laboratory developed the laser-shooting Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument that sits atop Curiosity in conjunction with the French space agency. Los Alamos’ work on discovery-driven instruments like ChemCam stems from the Laboratory’s experience building and operating more than 500 spacecraft instruments for national security. Scientists are using all the data collected by ChemCam and other onboard instruments to put together a complete picture of the geological history of Mars.
Story Source:
Materials provided by DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- J. A. Hurowitz et al. Redox stratification of an ancient lake in Gale crater, Mars. Science, 2017 DOI: 10.1126/science.aah6849
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