Biology
Scientific paper
Sep 1998
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998psrd.repte..21m&link_type=abstract
Planetary Science Research Discoveries
Biology
Mars, Exobiology, Gusev Crater, Landing Site, Maadim Vallis
Scientific paper
Though liquid water is not stable on the surface of Mars today, there are hints in the Martian landscape that water once flowed there, eroding valleys and depositing sediments. Understanding where water is, or was, on Mars is a crucial step in looking for life on this smaller, cooler neighbor of Earth. Satellite images, beginning in the early 1970s with Mariner 9 up to the current Mars Global Surveyor, have given us increasingly detailed looks at the surface of Mars, including those intriguing channels that resemble dry river valleys.
Warmer temperatures and a higher surface pressure once made it possible for liquid water to exist on the surface of Mars. When the water existed and where it went are just two of the questions being studied today. A larger question has to do with Martian life. If the wetter, early environment on Mars supported life, then where are the most appropriate places to look for evidence of life? The answer seems to be channels and ancient lake beds. Nathalie Cabrol and colleagues at NASA Ames Research Center, the Vernadksy Institute in Moscow, and Arizona State University recently published their study of a valley and impact crater on Mars which together had a prolonged history of water-related activity. The researchers established a sequence of events for the Ma'adim Vallis/Gusev crater area that included flowing water, ponding, and sedimentation over a period of a couple of billion years. This history makes Gusev crater a prominent depositional site and a key location for future biological explorations on Mars.
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