On Mars-NASA’s Curiosity Rover discovers the clearest evidence of water

The rover took pictures of rippled rocks that provide the most robust evidence yet of ancient water waves on Mars

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Curiosity Rover has been exploring the Martian terrain for a decade. It recently made a revolutionary discovery in the foothills of a Martian mountain. The rover photographed rippled rocks, providing the most conclusive evidence yet of ancient water waves on Mars.

These unusual rocks resemble the undulating patterns left by receding tides on a beach. Scientists believe they were formed billions of years ago by rippling waves on the surface of a shallow lake. The movement on the lake’s surface agitated sediment from the lake’s bottom, resulting in the combed texture seen on the rocks today.

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Curiosity’s Project Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ashwin Vasavada, said in a statement that “this is the best evidence of water and waves that we’ve seen in the entire mission.” The discovery surprised researchers because they expected this to be a dry area. This is because the rock layers formed in drier conditions than in other areas. Sulfates, or salty minerals, are thought to have been left behind when the area’s water dried up.

“Despite climbing through thousands of feet of lake deposits, we had never seen anything like this before. “It’s incredible to find it where we expected it to be dry,” Vasavada said.”