The research team used data from the remote sensing instrument ChemCam (Chemistry and Camera complex)
The researchers noted in the found rocksa large number of dark rounded "nodules". Such structures usually form in soft deposits. Scientists say that on Earth, dark concretions most often form in lakes, and suggest that the Martian rock has a similar origin.
Ben Hee stone photographed by ChemCam. The bedrock contains dark concretions that usually form in soft lacustrine sediments. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/LANL/IRAP-CNES
Curiosity then noticed large dark and white veins with strange chemistry, including dark layers high in iron and manganese and lighter threads rich in fluorine.
These veins are very puzzling.We think that in the early stages of the crater's existence, when the impact heated the surrounding rocks, groundwater flowed through them. We think that this hot water probably extracted elements such as fluorine from these rocks. High concentrations of fluorine are typically found only in hydrothermal systems on Earth. We didn't expect to find veins with this chemical composition in Glen Torridon.
Patrick Gasda, co-author of the study at the Los Alamos National Laboratory for Space and Remote Studies
The researchers believe that the crater has undergonelarge-scale change under the influence of groundwater. The rock beneath the crater is said to have stayed warmer for longer than previously thought, which explains the higher concentrations of elements such as fluorine in groundwater. For a long time after the formation of the crater, these underground waters could actively circulate through it, forming layers of different chemical composition in the rocks.
"The main goal of the rover's mission was toto explore this region so we can understand the transition from an early, warm, and humid Mars to a cold, dry one,” adds Ghasda. "This region most likely represents the last stage of wet Mars, and we want to study lake sediments to find out what happened right before climate change on the planet."
Cover photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Read more:
It has been hunted for centuries: what do we know about the planet Vulcan next to the Sun
Astronomers have found a planet near the Earth: it has a very strange orbit
Physicists figured out how to design and print the most delicious chocolate in the world