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Recently Found Silica Deposits on Mars May Hint at Flowing Water

December 21, 2015 By Dustin Davis Leave a Comment

Silica found in rock samples collected by NASA’s robotic rover Curiosity may hint at ancient water.

NASA’s robotic rover Curiosity recently detected a rock-forming mineral called silica in samples taken from the Martian soil. Scientists believe that the recently found silica deposits on Mars may hint at flowing water.

Silica deposits are a common occurrence on Earth since the mineral is usually carried and deposited by flowing water. But scientists didn’t expect to find it on the Red Planet, too. Jens Frydenvang of the New Mexico-based Los Alamos National Laboratory acknowledged that science currently lacks a ‘full understanding’ of such deposits on Mars.

Frydenvang explained that similar deposits on Earth are often tied to ‘water activity.’ NASA also unveiled that the recently spotted silica is of a rare type called tridymite, which can rarely be seen on Earth. So the surprise was even greater when scientists saw it on Mars.

Researchers explained that such type of silica is found in volcanic rocks on our planet. This is why, there is a theory that the tridymite deposits on Mars may be caused by ancient volcanic activity. But another group of scientists have a different theory.

Elizabeth Rampe and her fellow researchers at Houston-based Johnson Space Center are now trying to prove that the mineral could be created in a laboratory without the need of high temperatures volcanoes involve.

Since June, NASA’s Curiosity has been exploring a barren wasteland called Marias Pass on the Red Planet. After some time, the robotic explorer found two types of overlapped rock layers. After the rover had performed some drills, it found that the layers contained a significant silica deposit.

When the discovery was unveiled to the public, Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists said that the deposits were a scientific puzzle. Albert Yen of the JPL explained that the deposits could be the result of a liquid that leached away other components and left the mineral behind or the mineral was added through other type of activity. Yen added that both scenarios involve water.

Curiosity rover has been exploring and sampling the rocks around the 18,000 ft tall Mount Sharp where the Marias Pass is located since last year. Between 2012 and 2014, the self-driving probe has been scrutinizing the plains at the base of the mountain.

A JPL investigator said that the new data beamed back by Curiosity helped the team gain a larger picture of the Martian environment around Mount Sharp from the first initial years of the mission. On Thursday, JPL researchers told attendees at an American Geophysical Union meeting that the recently sampled rocks may contain ‘organics.’
Image Source: Wikimedia

Curiosity Rover Just Found Surprising Storages of Silica on Mars

December 20, 2015 By Robert Romero 1 Comment

Curiosity Rover Buckskin rock drilling. Silica

Curiosity rover just found surprising storages of silica on Mars as it ventures higher on Mount Sharp. Curiosity is instrumental in understanding the changes that the environment and climate of the Red Planet have undergone through three billion years of existence.

In over three years of mission, Curiosity rover has brought brought about crucial insight on the geological composition of Mars, its atmosphere and other key scientific issues. Now, as NASA’s rover treks up Mount Sharp, it’s on to a new discovery that may pinpoint significant changes in what we know of the Red Planet.

Over three years ago, Curiosity rover landed in the 96-mile-wide Gale Crater. According to data gathered throughout the mission, this depression would have once housed lakes of fresh water. As it tracked across the Gale Crater, Curiosity rover sampled mostly basaltic rocks, a typical rock composition found on Mars. With the past months, the landscape is changing according to Ashwin R. Vasavada who is the project scientists with the Curiosity mission.

The meeting of the American Geophysical Union taking place in San Francisco last week saw Vasavada enthusiastically explaining the new framework of discussion. Although there are only hints and no final story yet.

3.6 billion years ago, Gale Crater was created when an asteroid hit Mars. The sediment that filled the crater afterwards was blown away by winds and eroded until Mount Sharp was created as a landmark towering over the depression. As Curiosity rover is moving higher and higher up Mount Sharp, each layer of sedimentary rock starts telling a different story about the geology of the Red Planet. And as it seems, Curiosity rover just found surprising storages of silica on Mars.

Silica represents a class of minerals in the composition of which oxygen and silicon reign high. Finding several types of silica indicates that liquid water was present and acting on the sedimentary rocks long after the lakes of fresh water disappeared. According to Vasavada, it was groundwater that filtered through the sedimentary rocks several times as pinpointed by the chemical signatures left behind.

Between basaltic rocks and mudstone rocks and sandstone rocks, Curiosity rover found that the latter two had 90 percent more silica than any of former analyzed so far. The first clue came as Curiosity rover reached Marias Pass. Marias Pass is and intersection of mudstone and sandstone at the base of Mount Sharp. There, in a light-tone bedrock NASA’s rover found the high levels of silica. The data was interpreted only later, so scientists drove Curiosity rover back to the scene after it had advanced further on Mount Sharp.

Heading back, the rover drilled into Buckskin, a rocky formation in the area and analyzed the chemical composition once more. With bets in place, the scientific team never expected that Curiosity rover would find tridymite, never before seen on Mars and certainly not in such a rocky formation. On Earth, it forms in volcanic rocks, but not in sedimentary rocks. Further analysis will bring a full exciting story on Curiosity rover’s latest discoveries.

Photo Credits: Wikimedia

Curiosity Is Walking on Martian Sand

December 13, 2015 By Robert Romero Leave a Comment

Curiosity left its tracks in Martian sand

Right in this moment, Curiosity is walking on Martian sand. Maybe ‘walking’ is not the most correct term but that is just a technicality. NASA and space enthusiasts all over the world celebrate the Rover’s finding of real sand dunes on the surface of the Red Planet.

Not only that Curiosity is leaving its footprints in Martian sand right as we speak, but the curious Rover has also send photos of it to its team on Earth. It is for the first time when sand has been found by humans anywhere else in the Universe, but on Earth.

The sand dunes on which Curiosity is hiking are part of the ‘Bagnold Dunes’, situated on the north-western side of Mount Sharp, which is inside the Gale Crater.

The Rover will now filter the sand and sample it, before analyzing its structure in its onboard superlab. Besides the lab, Curiosity is also using its wheels to examine the dunes of sand.

Observing the dunes from the Red Planet’s orbit, scientists have already been able to determine that their edges are moving with up to three feet every year.

Mount Sharp, on which the dunes are formed, is almost 3 miles tall and its lower edges are exposing hundreds of rocky layers. These layers have been left behind by a huge lake and rivers that were once present on the Martian surface while also showing traces of wind action. With Curiosity’s help, the astronomers have been able to determine that in that place it used to be a huge long-lasting lake.

Actually, scientists believe that Gale Crater hosted more lakes, lasting about 10,000 years each, a long enough time for life to be supported.

Currently, the Rover is analyzing Murray formation – a 500 feet high section of the lowest layers of sediments.

NASA’s project called Mars Science Laboratory Projects operates Curiosity Rover in its mission to find out more about the changes experienced by the Red Planet over the last millions of years. One of the most important discoveries of Curiosity were traces of water on Mars. Now, scientists are hoping that the Rover will be able to find traces of ancient life on the Red Planet and potentially habitable environments.

MSLP is one of the projects developed by NASA to prepare the human mission on the Red Planet in 2030. Our future as a multi-planetary species depends on Curiosity’s findings.

Image source: JPL/NASA

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