A pear-shaped rock formation testifies to the activity of the planet

The Red Planet seems very inhospitable nowadays, but scientists are accumulating evidence of a completely different past. This time, it’s a rock formation that illustrates the past activity of Mars.

The planet Mars and knowledge of its past are at the heart of the interests of many teams around the world. Whether it’s the Chinese with their Zhurong rover or NASA with the Curiosity and Mars 2020 missions, many surveys and analyzes are underway on the Red Planet. Moreover, it is done within the framework of one of these missions Creative helicopter prepares for its 14th flight.

The hypothesis of liquid water on Mars was widely verified several billion years ago, and recently scientists were able to prove it The planet was too small to sustain rivers, lakes, and oceans. but, Water is not the only important element in the emergence of life Scientists are working to track the presence or absence of volcanoes on the star.

A clearly visible volcanic trail

Missions to Mars are known in particular by rovers such as Curiosity or Perseverance and the Ingenuity helicopter. However, there is another instrument, less well known, that also works in orbit. This is HiRISE, A camera capable of capturing images of the surface of Mars with very high accuracy.

Thanks to this camera, the scientists discovered a formation described as a “buried pear”. According to NASA and the University of Arizona, this training is Very old lava cone that could have survived from modern volcanoes.

Lava is a term referring to any material whose formation occurred in a volcano, without distinction in composition, shape, or size. A blessing to researchers as it is a rare visual testimony to the planet’s ancient activity. In fact, Very few of these formations have survived to this day.

This discovery reinforces the evidence that was discovered this year and attests to this Super eruptions that occurred on the surface of Mars. For what we currently know, the planet appears to have been particularly active 3-4 billion years ago and The last major eruption dates back to 50,000 years ago. If we add The last earthquake recorded by NASAScientists hope that little volcanic activity is still present.

If scientists are so interested in volcanoes and the presence of water, it is because these two elements together greatly enhance the emergence of life and all the information astronomers can get on Mars can support it. JUICE’s mission to observe Jupiter’s moons In search of favorable conditions for life.

Source : self development