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The Curiosity rover has spotted ancient wave ripples in Gale Crater, hinting at shallow lakes that once covered parts of Mars with standing water. These ripples, found in a 3.7-billion-year-old area, suggest that liquid water existed long ago without ice. Wave ripples are like the lines you see on sandy shores when wind moves sand back and forth. NASA’s Curiosity rover discovered these features in 2022, as detailed in a study published this month in *Science Advances*.
Co-author John Grotzinger explained that previous missions had seen similar ripples formed by water, but it was unclear if the water ever pooled into lakes or seas. The latest findings confirm that water once existed on Mars, even though the planet lost most of its atmosphere around that time. The study highlights that Mars likely had multiple wet periods in its early history, which could have supported life.
The discovery provides new insights into Mars’s early climate and may influence future missions, such as the upcoming Rosalind Franklin rover, which aims to explore Martian geology further. This finding also adds to previous research suggesting that areas like Chryse Planitia on Mars were once covered with water-rich clay minerals, indicating a past with potential for life.
Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/curiosity-rover-spots-ancient-water-ripples-on-mars-hinting-at-a-past-with-shallow-ice-free-lakes-180985913