A recent study suggests river delta gatherings within Mars’ Jezero crater. The whirling ridges of land noticeable from space unveil rivers once flowed the Martian grounds. But for how long did the water run? Scientists enrolled in a daring mission of finding more answers and possible signs of ancient life on Mars. And for achieving their goals, NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover will be sent to the Jezero crater. The spacecraft is expected to be lifted off in July this year.
The Perseverance Rover in a Quest for Finding Signs of Ancient Life on Mars
The Jezero crater was picked for NASA’s upcoming rover project due to its river delta – known on Earth to preserve effectively organic molecules. Based on the force of the Red Planet’s gravity, and assuming it didn’t have plants, the researchers conclude that the delta in Jezero crater took approximately 20 to 40 years to form. That development, however, was likely irregular and spread over 400,000 years.
“There probably was water for a significant duration on Mars, and that environment was most certainly habitable, even if it may have been arid,” detailed Mathieu Lapotre, from Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences.
Meandering, single-threaded rivers are usually detected with vegetation on Earth. Their appearance without plants remained most unspotted until now. The researchers also evaluated that wet spells conducive to important delta formation were almost 20 times less frequent on old Mars than they are on our planet nowadays. Discoveries from Jezero crater could support the scientists’ understanding of how life developed on Earth.
The Potential Life on Mars in the Planet’s History
If life was once present on Mars, it couldn’t develop beyond the single-cell phase, researchers believe. And that’s because the crater evolved over 3.5 billion years ago, a lot longer before organisms became multicellular on our planet.
Also, if life on Mars has ever existed, its development was hampered by some strange event that sterilized the planet. Such a thing means that the Jezero crater could serve as a time capsule storing signs of life.
