{"id":779991,"date":"2024-04-01T17:33:50","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T22:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=779991"},"modified":"2024-04-01T17:33:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T22:33:50","slug":"curiosity-has-reached-an-ancient-debris-channel-that-could-have-been-formed-by-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=779991","title":{"rendered":"Curiosity has Reached an Ancient Debris Channel That Could Have Been Formed by Water"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Like a pilgrim seeking wisdom, NASA\u2019s MSL Curiosity has been working its way up Mt. Sharp, the dominant central feature in Gale Crater. Now, almost 12 years into its mission, the capable rover has reached an interesting feature that could tell them more about Mars and its watery history. It\u2019s called the Gediz Vallis channel. <\/p>\n

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Gediz Vallis channel appears to have been carved by ancient water. But if that\u2019s the case, it happened billions of years ago. The channel has since filled with rock. <\/p>\n

Mt. Sharp\u2019s upper regions are beyond Curiosity\u2019s reach. It\u2019s simply too difficult for the rover to get there. But Nature is playing nice with MSL Curiosity. Rocks have come tumbling down from the mountain, creating a ridge and filling up a channel. Those rocks are within reach, and they could hold clues to Mars\u2019 watery past.<\/p>\n

Mars\u2019 ancient history, especially as it concerns surface liquid water, is a gigantic puzzle with lots of pieces. We know there are hydrated minerals on Mars that date back millions of years. We know there are sulphates, which are minerals left behind when water evaporates. We have orbiter images clearly showing river channels and deltas. <\/p>\n

Gediz Vallis is a tiny part of Mars, but it could make an important contribution to our understanding of this once warm and wet world.<\/p>\n

This image from 2019 shows a proposed route for MSL Curiosity. The rover is about to expire Gediz Vallis Channel. Image Credit: By NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ESA\/Univ. of Arizona\/JHUAPL\/MSSS\/USGS Astrogeology Science Center \u2013 Public Domain, <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Understanding Gediz Vallis and what it could tell us begins with Mt. Sharp. Mt. Sharp was built up over long periods of geological time by the deposit of sediments into layers. Over time, some of this material was eroded away, presenting us with what we see today. The Gediz Vallis channel formed after all that had happened.<\/p>\n

Because the channel has steep walls, scientists say water had to carve it. Wind erosion is ruled out because it creates shallow, wide walls. Sometime after it formed, it was filled with rocky debris. That debris probably came from high up Mt. Sharp, beyond Curiosity\u2019s reach. The rock will give the rover a look at the upper reaches of the mountain that it would otherwise never obtain.<\/p>\n

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This image shows the debris piles in the Gediz Vallis channel, as seen by MSL Curiosity. Image Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/UC Berkeley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ashwin Vasavada is the Project scientist for NASA\u2019s Curiosity rover at JPL. \u201cIf the channel or the debris pile were formed by liquid water, that\u2019s really interesting,\u201d he said in a press release. \u201cIt would mean that fairly late in the story of Mount Sharp \u2013 after a long dry period \u2013 water came back, and in a big way.\u201d <\/p>\n

This agrees with other evidence Curiosity found. Instead of disappearing once and for all, water seems to have come and gone in phases, confounding our attempts to understand Mars\u2019 history. <\/p>\n

\"Gediz
Gediz Vallis Ridge is the hill-like slope at right in this MSL Curiosity image captured on August 19th, 2023. It took the rover three attempts over three years before it could reach the ridge. It spent 11 days at the ridge and is now working its way to Gediz Vallis Channel. The formation has scientists intrigued because of what it might tell them about the history of water on the Red Planet. Image Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A year ago, the rover ascended the Gediz Vallis ridge, a sprawling debris pile that appears to grow out of the end of the channel, to get a closer look. Since the debris looks like it flows out of the channel, it indicates that both are results of the same geological process.<\/p>\n

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