These types of sediments have been known to contain organic, life-sustaining molecules. In the end, all this knowledge led Mangold's team to isolate places where remnants of life could be found - deeper layers of Kodiak that likely have mud-dominated residue as well as sand grains. in addition, the change from horizontal bedding to the faults, which are deep in layers, indicates the past water level." "Because it shows that there was a lake in Jezero, no doubt about that.
"That kind of observation is really key," he explained. That elevation varied over time, he says, which is also consistent with the idea the river advanced into a lake. Mangold says it would've been about 8,202 feet (2,500 meters) high, based on striations of rocks in the butte. Kodiak also offered insight into how high the ancient body of water rose. "A big question for us," Mangold said, "is to understand why there was this change of hydrological activity, because that is probably the signature of a change of climate." Thus, the team believes the river's flow suddenly grew more intense during the course of its life. These are formed with stronger water flow such as waves and tides, like that found in a lake. Those boulders, he said, mean Jezero's river delta is what's called a Gilbert-type delta. is not supposed to get some big boulders. "The first image is actually where we can see boulders," he said. He described the team's first look at the photos as a "shock." "By understanding the stratigraphy at Kodiak, it enables us to identify the deposits which are the most likely of interest for life preservation," Mangold said. The stratigraphy, its rock layers, is relatively easy to see from afar, according to the researchers. Kodiak serves as a geologic representation of the main river delta's features. "You can imagine that the delta was a little bit extended to the south and to the east, then erosion removed some of the material," said Mangold. Kodiak is a part of the delta that's slightly farther away. They observed a nearby butte, or mound of rock, dubbed Kodiak. Surprisingly, the researchers didn't find the prized areas just by analyzing Jezero's main delta. "Despite our disappointment," he said, "we tried to look at the delta from a distance using our best cameras, and that gave really wonderful results." Clues from Kodiak Initially, Mangold says, he hoped Perseverance would catch clear images of the spot, but unfortunately, Percy is a bit too far from the old river for that. With that in mind, the study team's proposed points of interest for locating evidence of life on Mars are all anchored by that delta. In other words, it could contain fossilized building blocks of life. That stream often carries organic molecules and bacteria in its path, which means Jezero's delta could easily contain an accumulation of such materials. This Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image shows the Jezero Crater delta region.īelieved to have once been flooded by water, the Jezero crater houses an ancient river delta - a delta that could be holding signs of alien life.ĭeltas are landforms generated by rock and sediment swept up by a river's flow. More specifically, they sent the rover to a huge crater called Jezero. That's why NASA sent Perseverance to traverse the planet in hopes of finding fingerprints of life. Scientists have long been intrigued by the past existence of water on Mars. This turned the environment into the inhospitable land we've come to know today. The vast bodies of H2O dried up eons ago as the formerly blue planet's delicate atmosphere disappeared. And where there's water, there could be life. It was covered in fresh rivers and lakes, a lot like those on Earth. Once upon a time in space, Mars wasn't a dry and dangerous world. NASA's Perseverance and the legend of Jezero "We know that water was running on the surface at one point in the past, but we don't know the duration of this activity," said the study's lead author, Nicolas Mangold, a geologist at the University of Nantes in France. Their analysis unveiled spots on the arid orb that could house the highly sought-after biosignatures. 7 in the journal Science, dissected photographs taken by NASA's recently landed Perseverance rover and uncovered ways that water flowed on Mars billions of years ago. The crew of researchers behind the new study, published on Oct. Though they don't expect to find any bug-eyed, green aliens, they do say vital organic compounds that suggest the presence of past life might exist there, waiting to be uncovered. Geologists say specific areas of an ancient river delta near where NASA's Perseverance rover is stationed could hold fossilized evidence of extraterrestrial life.
Mars rovers may soon get a few new checkpoints to explore.
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